Believe
by Beaner-Bop
Summary: Videl lives in a village that is 'protected' by Saiyajins, a belief she let go of years ago, but when she goes into hiding because of war, she meets a strangely strong boy... [FINISHED]
1. Prologue/A Child's Story

Believe…

Beaner-Bop

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A/N: That's right! A new fic by the Bop! Lol!

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Disclaimer: I own nada, boo-hoo. Now what?

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Prologue/A Child's Story

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They are strong, Here to protect us

Believe in them, they will stay

They help all but those who don't believe…

They will scare our enemies away…

Believe in them…

They will help us…

You must believe!

Believe in them for luck

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A small girl, perhaps around three, sat on her mother's lap. Both had black hair and they shared the same blue eyes. There was no mistaking the two of them for being closely related. The small girl looked up at her mother's face as her mother wondered which story to tell her this time about _Saiya-jins_.

"Hmm…" She pondered and her eyes brightened. "I've got it! What about the time, my sister, Emily, went along with Goku and a few of his friends, to stop Frieza? It was an immense battle! Words can hardly describe what all of them must have been feeling when…" The girl shook her head.

"Get to Go-han! I wanna hear about _Gohan!_" Her mother laughed and played with the girl's hair.

"You know, this is still a very recent tale…" The girl shook her head again.

"Gohan! Gohan!" Her mother shook her head dismissively.

"Alright, alright, you win!" The little girl raised her hands above her head and smiled.

"Yay!" Her mother laughed and sat her down onto her lap.

"Now…something about Gohan…oh! I know! What about when he was alone to face an evil uncle and…" The girl listened to her mother, though she knew all of these stories by heart.

"…and in the end, he was able to…" Her mother went on. "The…end." Her daughter grinned up at her.

"Thank you mommy!"

"Anything for you, love." She picked her up. "Now it's time for you to go to bed!" She laid the tiny girl onto the small bed.

"G'night mommy…" The girl slurred lightly, from being so tired. The woman stood up and blew out all of the candles in the room. She turned back to her daughter who was now peacefully asleep on her bed.

"Good night, Videl." And she left the room.

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A/N: Think it's good? Hope so! …Is this my first prologue??? I think it is… weird. Well, see ya!

Beaner-Bop


	2. Going into Hiding

Believe…

Beaner-Bop

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A/N: Hey!! The first chapter! I bet you're all excited! Lol!

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Disclaimer: Take a BIG F A T guess.

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Chapter One: Going into Hiding

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Fifteen year old Videl breathed through her nose and out through her mouth, trying to keep herself from punching the man in front of her.

"What… are you _talking_ about?" The man looked at her again as though she was an idiot. He snorted lightly, as though knowing a joke she didn't. She snorted right back, just trying to get under his skin.

"I _said_ that you must go into hiding." She squinted at him and started chewing nothing in her mouth, it made her look more threatening.

"And if I say no?"

"We'll take you out of this village kicking and screaming, whether you like it or not." Videl growled lightly under her breath and turned around, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I won't go."

"You must!" She turned and glared at him.

"Not true!" She glared harder at him. "These monsters took my mother from me! I will stay here and fight till I can no longer breathe!" The man snorted at her, daring her to try it.

"Well than, go into hiding and wait for the _men_ to do it. Once they're no more of them, you can take over. Deal?" Videl glared at the man even harder.

"Why you-" She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked to see Lime. The red-haired girl looked up at the man on the horse.

"Please sir, forgive her. She will go into hiding with me." Videl glared at her. If there were any girls in this village she couldn't stand, it was Lime. The girl was her age and clung to the belief of the Saiya-jins with all her heart and soul. Videl couldn't understand how she could still believe in all that rubbish.

The man nodded and rode to another house, to tell more people that they needed to go into hiding.

Videl turned and glared at Lime.

"Why did you have to say that?" Lime cowered slightly but held her ground. 

"Because you were making a fool of yourself! Did you know what type of idiot you looked like?" Videl snorted again.

"Well, if you didn't stop me-" Lime cut her off.

"If I didn't stop you than, you would have made a bigger fool of yourself than if I cut you off later!" Videl turned on her heel stalked back into the house. She slammed the door behind her and than slumped onto it.

She brought her hand up to her face and sobbed lightly into it. Tears didn't escape her eyes, but a little pain was let go.

Videl pushed herself off the door and went into her room. She walked stiffly past the first door, not wanting to remember whose room it was in the first place.

When she walked into her room she looked around, wondering what she should pack. She grabbed a bag and started to throw some clothes into it, making sure that they were all easy to move in.

She looked around the room once more, making sure that she didn't miss anything that she might need on the trip. That was when her eyes fell onto a little stuffed bear. She reached over and grabbed it. She rubber her thumb over the worn out 'fur' that was on it. She hugged it to her chest and than looked at it again.

She bit her lip and stuffed it into her bag, trying her best to not remember how she got it in the first place.

-

There were three of them going into hiding together. Videl knew that they other one with them was Erasa, having talked with her a few times. She never really knew why however, she was always so happy, to the extent to make everyone around her sick…

Videl sighed. She shouldn't hate Erasa because she was happy all the time… Especially when it was because she couldn't be. That was when Videl noticed that the two girls behind her were having trouble breathing. Videl turned around and cocked an eyebrow at them.

"What's wrong with you?" Both girls looked up at us glared. Lime was the first to speak.

"Well *pant* Videl, not all of us *pant* were made to be *pant* outdoorsmen! Or women…*pant*" Videl rolled her eyes.

"Oh please. At this pace we won't reach the middle of the forest for days!" She brought her hands up and circled them. "You guys are such little children!" She turned her back to them and started ahead.

"When you've caught your breath, come and catch up!" Lime glared at her heatedly.

"Why that girl! I've done great things for her! Went out of my way for her and how does she rep-" She turned to look at Erasa who rested her hand on her shoulder. "What?" Erasa shook her head at her sadly.

"Videl experienced a lot of bad things lately, we all have, but it was Videl's mother who died of our villages foolishness, not ours." Lime looked at her confused.

"What are you talking about?" Erasa blushed slightly and looked the other way.

"I know that women of my standard aren't uh…supposed to know about these sorts of things but… I kinda… listened in on my father and fiance." Lime's eyes widened and she nodded her head.

"You know, I'm feeling kind of left out. You two know more about what's going on than I do!" Erasa shrugged.

"You should listen more. Now where was I?" Lime answered for her.

"You were telling me about how it was the villages fault that-" Erasa nodded her head.

"Oh yeah…anyway. The town got a letter saying that they had Videl's mother as a hostage and that they would kill her and go into war if they didn't listen to their demands. Now, our village thought that it was all a bluff and didn't respond to the letter. One week later, Videl's mother was lying on the ground, all bloodied and beat up." Lime looked confused.

"I thought nobody knew where she was…" Erasa nodded her head at her.

"Nobody does! Now let me finish. The person who saw that was the blacksmith. He was going to get some people to help him and when the group came back to help, all that was left was the blood in the dirt. Nobody knows what happened to Videl's mother." Lime's mouth widened in shock.

"This can't be true!" Erasa nodded her head solemnly.

"It is." Lime hugged herself lightly.

"No, you don't understand… Videl's mother…she was a…a believer in the Saiya-jins! They had to have saved her, but if what you say is true than…" Lime closed her eyes tightly and shook her head. "It can't be true." Erasa patted her back sadly and stood up. She sighed lightly, looking at Lime sadly.

"I'm sorry Lime…" She turned around and started heading the direction that Videl went, also giving Lime some time alone.

If either of them would have looked up, they would have seen Videl sitting on a tree, listening to Lime's story. She knew that Lime's belief was being crushed and felt terrible about, but the girl had to learn sometime or another that Saiya-jins _weren't real_. It was just time. Videl shook her head and started running over the tree limbs carefully, hoping to catch up to Erasa soon and look like she was waiting for them for the last couple of minutes.

She swooped down and landed in front of the tree that Erasa was just coming too. She turned to her.

"What took you so long?" She shrugged lightly.

"I talked to Lime for a while." She nodded and started to walk away again. She heard Erasa trying to do her best to keep up with her and knocked down her speed by a couple of notches.

A few minutes later, the two heard more crunching behind them and Lime popped out of the brush. She nodded to Videl who noticed that she had small tear streaks down her cheeks. She flinched slightly at the sight of them, but knew that it was for the better this way. Lime _couldn't_ believe in them.

Not now anyway.

They walked for a few more hours when Videl stopped all of a sudden she looked around and nodded.

"We'll sleep here tonight." She heard both the girl's behind her sigh with relief and she snorted again.

The three started to set up their little camp quietly, since none of them knew exactly where they were.

Once everything was done, the three pulled out two blankets, one for them to lie on, the other to lay on top of them. They whispered 'good night's' to each other and swiftly fell alseep.

Well…two of them anyway.

Videl looked up at the stars and sighed. She looked at them, wondering where her mother was up in there in the vastness of the sparkly dots.

She was about to go to sleep when she heard something.

__

"What are they?"

"Their humans you idiot!"

"Hey! You said you'd stop calling me an idiot!"

"Fine, let me rephrase that than. I'll stop calling you an idiot, when you stop being one!"

"Dea-Hey! Wait-a-minute!" The other thing snickered and Videl was majorly alert.

She sat up quickly and turned to look at where the voices were coming from.

"Who's over there?" The voices ceased but Videl was still waiting for a sound, knowing it had to come.

She laid back down, pretending to go back to sleep, when the two 'things' decided to make a break for it.

She stood up quickly and started running over to where she heard the voices before.

"Oh shit!" Now _that_ she heard clearly.

__

Am I chasing… She thought to herself. _A small…boy?!_

She kept running until she saw the two figure, running and trying to be quiet at the same time. She was just about to catch them when she felt a pang of pain on her neck, and she blacked out.

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A/N: Hopefully that was good. What do you think?

Beaner-Bop


	3. Uh, Where am I?

Believe…

Beaner-Bop

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A/N: I'm back!!! Whats up everybody?!

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Disclaimer: FANfiction FANfiction…

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Chapter Two: Uh, where am I?

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Videl blinked open her eyes and groaned. She had a major stomach ache at the moment that was killing her. Her eyes met a pair of worried black ones she opened up her mouth and…

…screamed.

The person with the black eyes moved and she thought she heard a few grunts of pain, but wasn't positive. A second later, a hand covered her mouth. She turned her eyes to look at whoever did that and her eyes widened. She was about to bite the offending hand but they lifted up the middle part of it before she could get a good grip on it.

"Will you stop it? Gah…" She looked at her 'captor' and saw that it was no other than a boy about her age. Her eyes widened but she shut her mouth. She saw the boy stare at her for a few seconds before taking his hand off her mouth entirely.

"Yeesh…you didn't need to do that you know!" She didn't show anything, but her mouth was slightly open and she was looking at him with shock in her eyes.

He looked at her pretty much the same way and than blinked a few times.

She heard him mutter 'What the hell am I _thinking?_' Her eyes looked at him with a type of horror, even though she wasn't afraid of him in the least. He looked at her again and blushed to the roots of his hair.

"Uhh…" She turned her 'look-of-horror' into the 'look-of-horror' for him. Or in other words, she glared at him.

He gulped lightly, wondering what to say, but that didn't last long because Videl was all too willing to talk to him.

"Where the hell am I? Who're you? Why am I here? How did I-" The boy put his hand over her mouth again lightly and she quieted down a little.

"Let me answer the other questions…okay?" She nodded and the boy sat back a little bit. "For your first question, you're in the same forest you were in before just…not exactly where you were when you were running after the kids…" She was about to speak but the boy gave her a look that said 'let me finish', which she let him. "For the next well…just call me Mystic-" She raised an eyebrow at that, thinking he was joking but he went on, showing that he wasn't. "Why are you here? That's a good one… well…you kinds came into 'my' territory… Actually, all of you are in my territory…" Videl's eyes widened.

"What do you mean _your_ territory?" Mystic looked at her for a moment and than shook his head at her, and looked the other way…meaning he wasn't going to answer her.

Videl didn't like this in the least and growled at him lightly.

"I want to KNOW!" She yelled at him, causing him to flinch and nearly fall out of his chair. He rubbed his ear and glared at her lightly.

"And I don't want you to!" He replied back hotly, in what was oddly out of character for him, but she didn't know that. She glared at him and he gave her the treatment after a few minutes, both of thier eyes were burning and they were biting the insides of their mouths to keep on going.

After a moment, it took Mystic to figure out what they were doing was entirely stupid and stood up.

"I'll go get some water from the kitchen for you to drink." He walked out stiffly, opening the door and closed it. Videl than just noticed that she _was_ inside a house. She looked around, and saw that everything was made out of wood, expertly carved. She saw designs carved into the posts at the end of the bed and kneeled on the bed over by them. She traced the designs and noticed the different pictures on it. One had a small boy, it looked as though he was flying with his arms outward, and pointed down, like wings on a bird. He was grinning but she couldn't see his eyes and it was carved so that he had hair but you couldn't decipher if it was long, short, etc. It was so life like that Videl wondered if it was going to jump out at her.

She moved to the one by it at the bottom of the bed, the right side. This one had a few more carvings on it, One had what looked like a maiden in a gown, a monk, a bandit (it even had a scar on the cheek, he got so specific). There was a man with three eyes, a very odd looking man with a turban, and a few more were on it still. She wondered silently to herself if he did these things. She went back to the top, where the pillow she rest on before was still sitting. She crawled over to get a closer look, and saw the one that was closer to the door had a couple. The woman in it smiled with her eyes closed and the man was holding her possessively, grinning out to her. She thought for a moment of his weird hair style, but shrugged it off. Looking closer she saw that little petals were floating around them. She got away from that one and got up again and moved a foot, to see the one on the right side this time. Her eyes widened. She made sure that there was enough room to see it, as this one was against the wall, but…there wasn't anything on it. She heard the door open and closed and she turned her head to see Mystic there. He was carrying a glass which she presumed had water in it like he said. He nodded at her and she did the same right back.

"Um…what are you doing up?" She shrugged and situated herself so that her feet were hanging off the side of the bed.

"I was uh…looking at the designs on the bed frame…what are they anyway or…" Gohan smiled at her lightly.

"It's an um…" He handed her the water, which she started to drink slowly, waiting for him to finish. "It's um…a tradition I guess you could say, from where I come from. It's supposed to give one good luck. You see, each part is about someone close to them… and a little about what we think we once were." He pointed to the one with the couple on it. "That's my mother and father, and my little brother is a little farther down on it." Videl got off the bed and crouched down a little bit to see if he was telling the truth and saw that he was. The boy had the _exact_ same hairstyle as the man that was holding the woman a little bit above him. She looked back up at him as he saw her point to the one on the far side, by the window that she again just noticed. It was the one with all the strange people on it.

"That one stands for friends…" She nodded and watched him point to the blank one. "That one is…me and my spouse." She watched him as he turned an interesting shade of pink quickly. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'm guessing you don't have one." He looked at her and turned even red which made him look very cute…

She studied his features for a second, starting with his feet, and coming up. His feet were bare and his legs were covered by a rough tan material, he was wearing a loose white shirt but it was short sleeved, allowing her to see his muscles. Going up a little farther, she noticed that he was blushing more, and she felt a bit of pink tint come to her face, wondering if she was caught or not. His face seemed to have a touch of that babyish look to it, but at the same time looked masculine, and that bang on his forehead seem out of place with the rest of his hair which was standing up in spikes. Videl wondered about how he did that for a moment, but remembered that he didn't tell her about the last one, with the boy.

He was getting up to leave 'Gotta get some food.' He said as he went for the door but Videl stopped him in time before he was entirely out the door.

"Hey, Mystic, what's the last one of? The one with the boy." He looked back at her with a glare that seemed to go through her and find all her secrets in a second. He turned around and opened to door.

"It's what I think of what I once was." He through over his shoulder and walked out the door. Videl looked at the door confused.

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What could he mean by that?

What he once was?

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A/N: The THIRD story I updated! YES!!! I'm good! LoL!

Beaner-Bop


	4. Boys Will Be Boys

Believe…

Beaner-Bop

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A/N: Okay, a lot of people were saying how Gohan was mystic and how I let it slip. Actually, I DID let it slip yes, but personally I don't really care… -_-;; lol. But that's more or so because I'd be worried about you if you DIDN'T know Gohan was Mystic…lol! Better get typing.

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Disclaimer: The show was made before I was BORN!… I think. So how the heck could _I_ own it?!

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****

"Hey, Mystic, what's the last one of? The one with the boy." He looked back at her with a glare that seemed to go through her and find all her secrets in a second. He turned around and opened to door.

"It's what I think of what I once was." He through over his shoulder and walked out the door. Videl looked at the door confused.

__

What could he mean by that?

What he once was?

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Chapter Three: Boys Will Be Boys

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Videl started to feel a little guilty from the look he gave her but pushed the feeling aside. He had no right, especially since he _told_ her more or less that it was okay.

She growled lightly and hopped off the bed. When she looked down she saw that she was in the same clothes that she was in before which was a loose skirt so that she could move easily and a man's shirt. She nodded her approval and went for the door. She opened it and walked out into the hall. She didn't know which way to go but when she smelt food, she knew which way she _wanted_ to go.

Her stomach growled lightly, reminding her that it took more than just water to sustain it. Following it's silent instructions she started to move down the small hall and saw that Mystic was indeed making something. Without turning around he talked to her.

"What are you doing out of bed?" Videl looked at him surprised, wondering how he even knew she was their but shrugged.

"Got bored." Mystic nodded. He than brought his arm up and pointed his elbow at one of the cabinets.

"Can you grab some bowls? The soups ready…" She nodded and walked over. She reached up and grabbed two of them but he shook his head when he saw only two.

"Grab three. My little brother is here." She nodded and grabbed another wooden bowl. Videl wondered silently if he did all the carving in the house. When she saw the little designs on the bowl she figured that it was more than likely.

Gohan brought out loaves of bread from the middle of nowhere and plopped them all onto the table. Videl looked at them shocked.

"Is this all for… _supper?_" He nodded at her.

"Yeah I know it's not a lot but-" He was cut short when a little black haired chibi ran into the room.

"Brother! Brother! Is the scary lady okay?!"

"SCARY LADY?!"

"Goten, please don't insult people."

"But I'm NOT insulting her. I'm just sayin' she's scary!"

"You want to see scary you little-" Videl turned her head and was about to pick the chibi off the floor when she saw him. "-adorable little thing!" Goten recognized the sound of voice she used on him. A lot of the girls that like Gohan 'more than just friends' use it on him all the time, but they always say 'cute' not this 'ador-ee-bul' word.

"What does ador-ee-bull mean?" Asked, putting his arm behind his head grinning shyly at her. She grinned back at him, okay with grinning at a chibi.

"It means 'cute'." Goten started to protest but another question came to mind when he thought back to all the other girls that brother always bumps into. "Is my brother 'cute' or a 'hunk'? I mean, all the girls that call me that always say something like that about my brother…" Gohan choked on the air in his mouth and Videl's eyes looked distant to Goten, but really she just didn't want to look the chibi in the face. She stumbled on her answer.

"Well…uh…I REALLY don't think that uh…your brother wants me to um…answer that…" Her face was burning, matching Gohan's to a 'T'.

"Why do you both look like those red berries that I'm not 'pose to eat 'cuz their poisonous?" This caused the teens to blush darker and get Goten more and more confused.

"Stop doing this to me your guys! I can't keep up." She was saved from knowing when Gohan pushed a bowl in front of the chibi.

"Bon appetite, now shut up!" Videl silently _thanked_ Gohan and grabbed a slice of bread that was on the table and dunked it lightly. She chewed on the corner thoughtfully, looking at the table, when she looked up what she saw nearly made her fall out of her chair in shock.

They were eating 110 MP MINUTE!!!!! And they didn't even have miles yet! She swallowed and looked at her food. She looked back at the two of them and pushed her plate farther into the table.

"Well would you look at that… I'm not hungry!" Goten looked over at her.

"Can I have it?" The moment she nodded the food was devoured. Videl decided to grab another slice of bread and eat pieces of it at a time so later she wouldn't be TO hungry… She tried not to look at them eating as she nibbled the bread lightly.

Finally all the food on the table was done. She wondered why she didn't notice that much food before but shrugged it off, not really caring.

__

I wonder what Erasa and Lime are doing right now… She wondered. She sighed and stood up with some of the dishes along with Gohan and Goten and put them on the counter.

"I'll do 'em later." Gohan said starting to walk outside. He looked back at her expectantly, leaving her to wonder what was going on.

"What?" He shook his head at her.

"I thought you wanted to know where you are. How are you going to do that if you aren't outside?" She nodded to him and started to follow. She looked at the door and pressed her fingers to some of the designs.

"These are amazing…" She whispered. She was surprised to hear Gohan chuckle lightly.

"It's probably my safest hobby." She looked back at him wondering what he meant by that.

"What else do you do?" She asked. Gohan shrugged his shoulders at her lightly and looked towards the sky.

"Hunt… Protect… Fight…Dream…" Videl let the first three slide past her, as they were the usual answers of the men she knew, and since she didn't really KNOW Mystic yet, she didn't take them to heart… Dream however.

"You dream? What about?" He snorted and looked at his hands.

"You wouldn't believe me." She shook her head.

"Sure I would! Why wouldn't I?" He looked her in the eye, blushing lightly, not usually telling people these things because they don't ask.

"Peace."

"Peace?"

"Peace."

Videl thought about this for a few minutes and looked at him confused. "Peace? Really? All the other boys and men I know practically want war. It's like their claim to fame or something…" Gohan nodded and patted the ground beside him where he just sat down, indicting her to follow, which she did.

"I know. But I've been their already and let me tell you," He looked her in the eye, "I'd rather be the least known person in _anything_ than be a war hero." Videl looked at him confused.

"I understand that you don't want war…but if you had to help, wouldn't you want to be a war hero or something?" He shook his head.

"No." he was quiet and Videl thought he wasn't going to answer but was surprised none the less when he did. "Because do you know what it takes to _be_ a war hero?" Videl thought about that and the first thing that popped into her head was killing she shuddered lightly.

Videl sighed. "I wanted to go."

"Go where?"

"To the war. Our village is right in the middle of one but they forced all the women into hiding…DAMMIT!" She screamed. Her hands became fists and she shut her eyes tightly while grinding her teeth together.

"I hate them…I hate the damn bastards…" Gohan looked at her shocked but quickly let it fade.

"What…what happened?" She looked at him with begging eyes.

"Please don't ask me that." He nodded at her.

"Okay." And he obliged.

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A/N:


	5. Legends

Believe…

Beaner-Bop

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A/N: I'm TRYING to get back on track…thanks for being patient with me guys…

PS

iiiiiiiiTHANK YOU BURENDA!!!!!!! (she wrote the poem…legend…for me…THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

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Disclaimer: I'm poor. You think I own this? And if I did own this, skipping the whole 'fan fiction' thing, do you think that GOKU or VEGETA would be the main characters of the show? I mean, come on…

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Chapter Four: Legends

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I am not a child now.  
I can take care of myself.  
I mustn't let them down now-  
Mustn't let them see me cry.  
I'm fine.  
I'm fine.

- Peter Pan 'Return to Neverland' Sound Track

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Videl looked up at the sky for a little bit longer Mystic had to go inside for something but that was okay. She wanted to be alone for a while.

She closed her eyes as a breeze passed and ruffled her hair a little bit. _I wonder what Erasa and Lime are doing…?_ She thought to herself for a moment. She opened her eyes and watched as the clouds moved slowly.

She sighed and got up. Looking down at her dress, she tried to get some wrinkles out of it the best she could but just gave up and started to head inside.

She thought for a moment about how nice everything was up here when she thought back to Mystic. _Why the heck does he live alone? Okay, so he lives with his brother but that's not even what I meant in the first place! He can't be much older than me…_ She thought silently to herself. She didn't know whether or not to think that Goten lived here or WHY they didn't have parents but shrugged it off and made sure to remember to ask Mystic about it later.

She opened the door and walked in. Gohan was reading a leather bound book and Goten was nowhere to be seen. Since the question of 'Why does he live alone?' still bugging her she decided she might as well ask now. With a conversation first of course.

"Where's Goten?" Gohan looked up from the book he was reading. Videl noticed the thin wired glasses that were over his eyes. She blushed lightly thinking that Mystic looked cute with them on. [1]

Mystic stayed clueless to whatever it was that she was blushing about and removed the glasses.

"He went outside the-erm…window on the other side of the house so you might not have seen him." Videl laughed lightly when Gohan growled a little bit, thinking about Goten 'jumping' out of the window.

"Oh so um…" Videl looked back at Mystic and bit her lip. Mystic at the moment was currently wondering if it was safe to go back to reading his book or not from Videl's attempts of a conversation.

"Yeah…"

"So…why do you live up here um…alone?" Mystic raised an eyebrow at her and smirked lightly.

Videl _really_ liked it when he did that.

"Well…isn't it obvious?" Videl looked at him confused and shrugged.

"Uh…how old are you?"

"Sixteen." Videl nodded but than when 'sixteen' went through her head her eyes widened.

"Six_teen_?? You're not even of age yet or what ever that one thing was!" Gohan looked at her confused.

"Really? Gee… I've been living on my own since I was fourteen." Videl looked at him even more shocked.

"Fo-Fourteen?" Gohan nodded.

"Yeah. Where I come from your of age when you turn thirteen. I would have started to live on my own then but…some things came up." Videl didn't even try to think of what those things were, still trying to get past the sixteen bit.

"R-really? Geez… where I come from its _eight_een so hopefully you can see why I was shocked…" She looked a way for a little bit than back to Gohan. "Um…is there a reason that Goten is here…?" Gohan nodded.

"He's visiting." Videl moved her head slightly up and down and looked away, trying to find something else they could talk about. Her eyes settled on the book.

"Uh…what's that about?" She asked pointing to it. Gohan looked at it for a moment and than back to her.

"They're legends." Videl's eyes lightened up at that.

"Really? I love reading legends! It kind of makes you remember you're not the only person in the world…" Gohan looked at her confused. "Uh…never mind." He nodded and grabbed the book again.

"The one I'm reading right now is my favorite. Uh…want to hear it?" Videl nodded and leaned forward a little bit to listen. Gohan started.

"The war began, now never ends -

Death and terror all around.

The heros who would us defend

Are nowhere to be found.

A legend speaks of stronger ones

Who will come in time of need.

Power blazing like the sun;

They'll save the ones that still believe."

Videl blinked and breathed in slowly, feeling as though something happened to her when Gohan read the legend.

"Woah…" Gohan looked at her and grinned.

"I know. That's probably why its my favorite." He looked back through the book and shook his head. "I can't tell when it could have happened though." Videl looked at him, wondering what the heck he was talking about. When he caught her look he explained. "I can tell you when most of these legends actually came and happened, some more than others, you know how 'history will repeat itself'? I can't find when this one happened. I've been around to all the elders and well…anyone who can tell me about it but no one knows. Its like it still has to happen." Videl looked at him with an unreadable expression.

"Isn't it alright that it hasn't happen yet? Maybe it'll take place while you're alive. Who knows?" Gohan looked at her for a moment but shrugged his shoulders, to tired to get into how its not likely. He stood up and cracked his neck. He held his hand out to her.

"Come on, I'm hungry and its about time to start cooking the food anyway.

-

A/N: Not to good, but the next chapter has them going to the marketplace SO… and once again. THANK YOU BURENDA!!!!! Lol. I better get going… see ya!

Beaner-Bop

[1] - I can not stand Gohan's glasses later on, they do _not_ suit him…well they do, but that's because-ARGH! Never mind ^.^


	6. Enter Pricota

Believe

Beaner-Bop

-

A/N: ^.^ Mesa is comins backs! …I hope… -.-;; lol, I'm sure I'll get better, but you didn't come to read this SO…

-

Disclaimer: I am someone who doesn't own any bit of DBZ - so you can't sue me. Nyuh Nyuh Nyuh!!!!

-

Chapter Five: Enter Pricota

-

Videl stretched her arms over her head and yawned. It had been about a week since she had been staying with Gohan and Goten. She smiled softly as she got out of bed and stretched. She grabbed her clothes from the bedside, finding they were clean.

__

Probably by Gohan… She thought to herself. She shook her head. _Like there was anyone **else** to do it…_She put on her clothes which were quite a bit looser do to being the only clothes she had lately. She shook her head and went into the kitchen. Gohan insisted that she sleep in his bed, saying he'll just sleep in the guest room with Goten.

The little chibi didn't understand any of this but let it go. The same chibi jumped up and down in front of her now.

"Guess what Videl! Guess what!" Videl bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing as the little boy in front of her kept doing cart wheels and jumping jacks in front of her out of excitement.

"What Goten?"

"I'm gonna go home today." The little chibi frowned at that idea, brightening again in a second though, "But before that we get to go to the marketplace! Can you believe it Videl? Can ya? Can ya?" Videl laughed lightly, playing with the chibi's hair.

"Nope - I can hardly believe it."

Gohan came in front of them and was apparently all ready to go. Videl cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Planning on leaving without me?" Gohan blushed lightly.

"Ah…no, I just sort of memorized your schedule." He passed her a piece of toast, "hungry?" She took the bread from his hands thankfully and started to nibble on it as they walked outside.

"So…" Videl started as they walked away from the house. "Exactly _how_ are we going to get to this market place?" Gohan and Goten stopped automatically and gave each other a panicked look. Then Gohan smiled, making Goten more confused.

"Videl - I really hope you understand this, but I need you and Goten to close your eyes, _and promise not to peek_-" He looked mainly at Goten for that one. "I've got a _really_ quick way to get the market place but its kind of secret…" Videl looked at him strangely and closed her eyes along with Gohan. Seeing only darkness, she heard Gohan move slightly and touch her arm. Her eyes opened up and he looked at her like he was suspecting it. "I have to be touching both of you for this to work. Don't worry." She cocked her eyebrow at him again and held out her hand along with Goten who seemed didn't know what was going on either.

"Oh - and before I forget. Everyone might call me Gohan in the market place Videl, along with 'Kakarott's first brat' or something along the lines of that. My nick name is Mystic though." Videl had the sudden urge to see how many people knew his nickname but Goten popped up into the conversation before she did.

"-And I'm 'Kakarott's second brat!" Videl looked at the boy shocked and looked at Gohan with a look that said 'And he takes pride in this because…?' The teenage boy just shrugged his shoulders while blushing and rubbing the back of his neck with one of his hands.

"He's weird." He answered simply, but than started to get back onto the first topic, "Anyone, close your eyes, don't peek, and we'll be there in a jiffy." Videl rolled her eyes before closing them and felt Gohan lightly touch her hand. She heard him whisper something but she didn't get to think about it because of the suddenly nauseating pain in her stomach. When she opened her eyes she saw herself, Goten, and Gohan in a very dense patch of trees. Goten probably didn't look much better than she did, eyes crossed and feeling like he was going to throw-up. Gohan though was standing, blushing at the two of them who were on all fours since the dropped after the little 'ride'.

"Eh…sorry about that Goten, Videl. I forgot about the first time…"Videl glared at him but shakily got back up.

"What the-" She turned back to Goten and saw he was getting better fast, so forcing herself not to curse, "-… _heck_ did you do?!" Gohan blushed again.

"I got us here _really_ fast, just as promised. Anyway, I needed to land in a place where not many people are. It's a big problem. I mean, if you feel weird _doing_ it, how is it going to be to people who see it?"

"What about what the butcher does Gohan? What he does looks we-"

"Goten!" Gohan said quickly. Videl shook her head at the two of them, you knew they were brothers by how they acted. It was so _cute!_

The three of them started to walk out of the forest, Videl following the other two since they already seemed to know where they were going.

"Uh…Gohan?" He looked back at her so she kept going. "Do I need to do anything like…different?" He looked at her strangely and than nodded, stopping.  
"I nearly forgot about that. You and Goten can both come with me, but Videl, you have to stay close. It's not that our markets are dangerous or anything-" He looked at her pointedly, "-but they can be. And you aren't from around here so you won't be greeted with hospitality so _please_ just stay close, okay?" Videl grumbled under her breath but nodded, knowing that she really didn't have a choice in the matter.

The three of them started to walk out of the forest. Gohan slowed down again at the edge and looked at her closely.

"You can go into stores whose windows have a streak of either white, green, or both on them, okay? _Never_ enter the ones without it or have a black streak! If you have to wander off on your own, the safest would be the stores with the white streak of paint, okay?" Videl looked at him strangely but nodded, feeling better that if she truly had to move around on her own she could.

"So…why did you give me a color lesson?" She said a few moments later. Goten kept running down the hill they were on and back up, trying to get them to run too. She began to hear noise which more than likely came from the market place they were going to.

"Well… I guess I just wanted you to know…" Gohan looked at her strangely and she tried to form her question better.

"How about this? Why are the colors there in the first place?" Gohan looked down at his feet.

"My people… don't think that certain people are lower than others or anything like that, though very often we may act like it." He gave her a sidelong look silently telling her that that's a good thing to remember for later. She stored it away. "It's just that we don't want strangers in certain stores. Some stores with the black mark have a lot of our culture, the ones with the green have some things that are more or less known among our people. If you're new, you're going to have to need me to get in to the green marked ones. The white ones are pretty much…everything you could think of in a village. Except the library and school. Those are both green marks." Videl nodded her head.

"I can follow those rules." She smiled at him slightly and turned her head to the market which was now about a hundred meters away from them. They walked the gap in silence, unlike the noisy village they were walking into.

Videl did her best to stay close to Gohan without looking like a baby or anything of the like, but it was hard because her eyes kept straying over to other people. They passed the school first and Goten stuck his tongue out at it. He was about to cross the street to the bakery (which had a white mark on it - Videl remembered that) when Gohan grabbed the back of his gi and shook his head no. Goten pouted but went along with his brother. Videl kept the places that she passed with a white mark in her mind just in case. She tapped Gohan on the shoulder and he turned around.  
"Yes…?"

"Are you going to the bakery or something like that? So in case we get separated, I have a place to stay…" Gohan nodded.

"Yes, that'd be best… I'm more than likely going to go to the bakery last so in case you really need something, that's where you can go…" She nodded as he turned around and kept walking.

Finally he turned into a store that had a blue mark on the window. Videl walked in along with him, making sure to stay close like he told her, not wanting to become a problem in the town (1).

Looking around she noticed that it was one of those animal trading places. She tried not to get excited but if there was anything she really liked, they were animals. They didn't judge you, they'd listen, and if they were angry with you, you'd know it, and wouldn't be suddenly betrayed by them because they were hiding what they truly felt.

Videl winced thinking back to Lime and Erasa. What happened to them? Where were they? Guilt flooded through her as those questions passed through her head, as she didn't think that much of them throughout the week, having so much fun with Goten.

A female voice brought her out of her little dream world.

"Well, hey there Gohan! Long time no seeeeeee!" The girl who spoke seemed to be around Gohan's age, give or take a year, and she had flowing black hair. Her dress was tight on the top and loose at the bottom, giving everyone around her the look that she was floating. Videl glared at the girl, not quite sure why, but stopped when she saw the girl was looking at her, giving Videl a glare of her own. "…and this is…?" The girl went on. Gohan looked back at Videl from the counter.

"That's Videl, Videl, this is Pricota. Pricota, can we please get back to business? I've got to get a horse and-" Pricota looked away from Videl and giggled at Gohan. She leaned down _real_ low, making Videl think back to the 'indecency talk' she and her peers had to live through - just the girls.

"You can get one for free Gohan, you know my father would just _love_ to have you in our family…" Videl looked at Gohan to see him smiling at Pricota. She nearly growled but kept it in. If this girl was part of Gohan's 'people', she could probably hear her along with him - _that_ was something she could live without.

"Pricota - come on, I'm serious. I need a horse _now_, here I have a few things that I can trade for the mare outback…" Videl watched as her put a small pack onto the table. He untied it and carefully put everything onto the table.

Videl recognized two of the pieces as Gohan's woodwork. Most of his time the past week was spent finishing them up.

He asked her yesterday if she liked them and she nodded her head quickly, but after that said, 'But something really is uh…off balance with them…' Gohan smiled at her after she said that and nodded. He answered her with, 'Yeah, I felt that too. Hopefully no one else will notice.' Videl wondered what he meant by that and was going to ask him today but had a feeling that right now wouldn't be the best time.

There was some gold and silver coins along with a knife and a little box that Pricota immediately went too. Whatever she must have thought was in the box wasn't, making her face droop quickly. She smiled quickly thought and pulled out books that were inside.

"My father 'll think that this is more than enough for the mare you want Gohan. I don't understand what you want her for though and-" She looked in the box and grabbed some of the papers on the bottom, "Some of your mother's recipes?! Gohan, these alone can get you that mare!" She shoved the papers into her pocket and waved him back. "I'm supposed to tell you everything I know about her so, Here goes Paple's family brought her in here three months after her foul died. She went crazy right after the foul died and they thought if they gave her some time-" They walked outside and were starting to head to the stables, "-she'd get out of it. They gave her four months and she's still crazy. Gohan, don't you want a _different_ mare? Maybe a-" Gohan shook his head.

"No - I want her." Pricota sighed but nodded.

"To put her in here is to pay double what it took to buy her, but if she comes back here, I'll be nice and make ya pay what you gave me, deal?" Gohan nodded his head silently and walked into the stables where the horses all were, leaving Videl and Pricota alone. Videl looked nervously at the other black haired girl, wondering what it was that she wanted.

"What are you doing around Gohan?" Videl looked at her strangely.

"What?"

"You heard me!" Videl sighed.

"I haven't got a clue what you're talking about. I got lost one day and his brother found me. He's helping me get back home. There? Was that a good enough answer for you?" The girl, Pricota, kept glaring at her but softened after a minute.

"That Gohan, an real angel in disguise!" Videl nodded her head slowly, wanting to get as far away from this girl as she could.

"Um…right. Well-"

"I'll be coming back here later, okay Pricota? I just wanted to get this done first…" The other girl nodded her head at him.  
"Sure thing Gohan, be waiting for ya!" Pricota stayed outside by the stables as Videl and Gohan went through the store and out the front.

Videl let out a sigh of relief she didn't know she was holding in the first place. She looked at Gohan and shook her head, erasing whatever thoughts popped up in the last shop disappear as they went to the next shop.

-

A/N: I made this one a longer chapter for (A) I've been gone a long time (B) My last chapter was TINY!!! And (C) I needed to get Pricota in there ^.^ Thanks Burenda for Pricota's name ^.^ I love saying it!! And I made a name with 'Apple' - Paple!!! Lol!

(1) - Videl is acting a little OOC, but she knows that her father's influence, which is large in her town, could not have reached the places that she was at now…


	7. Belva Comes Home

Believe…

Beaner-Bop

-

Disclaimer: I don't own it…but I do own the Savage Garden CD I'm listening to that got me off my butt and sat me down to write!

-

Chapter Six: Belva Comes Home

-

Videl winced slightly at the smell at the next shop. She saw that they were inside the butcher's and she would have shivered had she not sneezed. Gohan looked back at her, studying her carefully.

"Are you okay Videl? The butcher's shop is pretty cold…" She shook her head and kept walking behind him.

"Don't worry about it…" Videl honestly just didn't want to go outside again. Some weird, but very strong looking guys were outside and she _knew_ that they were not staring at her face or 'necklace' as they claimed when she 'asked' Gohan had to drag her inside the shop just to make sure a brawl didn't happen in the middle of the street. She blushed lightly as Gohan grabbed her hand and began to point out some of the meats. _You're blushing while you're shopping together. What a romantic activity!_

"Ugh!" Gohan looked back at her strangely again.

"Are you _sure_ you're okay?" Videl nodded and Gohan left it alone. About ten minutes later they left and Videl ignored the two men who whistled as she walked out the door.

Gohan looked up to the sky and cursed lightly. He looked at Videl and smiled apologetically.

"I have to go find Goten… oh, um, here." He grabbed a few coins from his pocket and pushed it lightly into her hands. "There should be enough for something from the bakery… " Before she could even open her mouth to ask why the heck he was treating her like a child he answered. "My parents are having a um… _important family_ visit and um… they don't like visitors…" Videl cocked an eyebrow at him. "I'll tell you later… I've got to go find Goten and tell him that he needs to go home. G' bye!"

"Bye…"

-

Videl took a bite out of the cookie she was eating. The person who was here knew how to cook, that was for sure. She waited silently, feeling more and more like a child who was told to wait for their parents while they went and did something. Usually should would have started screaming her lungs out and telling everyone that she was not a child, but she had a feeling that that would go over well with the locals.

She sighed as she heard the bell jingle again. Out of the corner of her eye she that it was another child, there was a total of three now, _NOT_ including her. She growled under her breath lightly and was about to stomp out of there, but before she did that she grabbed her cookie. There was no way she was leaving _that_ behind.

The door jingled once again and she started to walk towards the way they came into the marketplace, hoping to leave it. She knew that Gohan might be a little frustrated by the fact that she left, but who cares? She was not going to be such a _baby_.

She was lucky, nobody seemed to notice her, and if what Gohan said about them not giving hospitality to 'newbies', she should just feel that more lucky.

She got to the wall that separated the market from the plain and trees and just decided to face the town. That way if Gohan comes he can see her before going into the bakery.

In about twenty minutes she was ready to fall asleep when people whispered and a horse's cry brought her out of her reverie.

"Are ya sure you want her Gohan? I'm tellin' ya! We _have_ better horses!" It was a male voice, and considering that he said Gohan's name she figured that it was probably Pricota's father.

"No, I want this one…" There was a loud cry again making the man once again think that Gohan was nuts.

"G-"

"I bought this horse and this is the horse that I want!" Gohan said before the man could say anything else. Pricota's father put his hands up in mock surrender. She got up from her perch and went over to them. Gohan noticed her walking up and nodded to her.

"Videl." She nodded back and watched as everyone in the marketplace began to clear away from the horse. She slowly began to follow their example but Gohan held his hand out to her.

Sometime while she was looking at the people, Pricota's father, and the horse, Gohan had somehow got himself on top of the animal. There were two people in front of the horse holding it tightly. Videl wondered how anyone could be so strong, she saw what the horse was doing before, how could these people be strong enough to hold it still?

She looked at Gohan's hand again and hesitantly put hers in it. He pulled her up in front of him and nodded to the people who were still holding the horse still. Some of the village people seemed to have made a line for the horse not to cross, forcing to go straight out of the village, once it got past the stone wall though, Gohan and Videl would be on their own.

"Ready?" He whispered. Videl was about to say 'Not on your life!' but never got the chance because before she knew it, Gohan yelled 'Yah!' and the horse went off running straight. Videl closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around the horse's neck when she saw that they were running straight for the trees.

"Hey, great job Videl." Gohan said enthusiastically. Videl began to slowly open her eyes and took some force from her grip around the horse's neck.

"What did I…um…do?" Gohan grinned at her.

"You calmed her down… _a lot_." Videl looked down at the horse hesitantly and widened her eyes when she saw that the horse was now going at a slight trot. She let a small grin break through her terrified looking face.

"Wow… um…what's her name?" Gohan shrugged lightly.

"She doesn't really have one. She doesn't come to her old name anyway…" Videl turned to him.

"What was her old name?"

"Um…Pricota said, and I quote 'Bebi…or a… was it Bulla?' than I asked her father and even her old owners and that was nearly the exact same answer I got from them!" Videl shook her head sadly and patted the horse's leg. Gohan kept on talking. "Her old owner's though said a lady gave it to them. Supposed to mean beautiful view or something…" Videl looked back at him quickly.

"'Beautiful view'(1)?" He nodded.

"You know any names that mean that?" She nodded her head at him.

"Belva." Gohan nodded.

"It does sort of suit her doesn't it?" Videl leaned back as Gohan steered who they now both new as Belva.

"Yeah… it does…"

-

A/N: Belva's going to become important in later chapters but I have no idea what to write now so I'm cutting it here, sorry!

Beaner-Bop

(1) - I got the names and their meanings from babynames.com…they also have names that are of Japanese origin if anyone wants to take a look…?


	8. Strange Dream

Believe…

Beaner-Bop

-

A/N: Hmm… ^.^ I finally got hit with writer's block in this - in the middle of math class when I should have been paying attention, of course.

-

Disclaimer: Who else hates these things with a fiery passion like moi?

-

Chapter Six: Strange Dream

-

__

I'm too tired to listen.  
I'm too old to believe:  
All these childish stories.  
There is no such thing as faith,  
And trust,  
And pixie dust.  
I try,  
But it's too hard to believe.  
I try,  
But I can't see what you see.  
I try.  
I try.  
I try.  
-Peter Pan, Return to Neverland soundtrack

-

A small girl giggled as her mother tickled her on the neck lightly. In a few moments the mother stopped and picked the girl up, placing her under the covers of her bed. She leaned down and kissed her forehead. Just as she was going to say 'good night', the little girl stopped her.

"Tell me a story mommy." The woman smiled at her and sighed, pretending to be ignored. She went to the end of the bed and thought for a second. In a few moments the woman looked back to her daughter and smiled.

"Want to hear a story about how Goku-" The girl shook her head quickly. The woman looked at her strangely. "You don't want to hear about Goku? He's everyone's favorite Saiya-jin, all the kids in the village seems to love hearing about him." Her daughter always confused her. She would never tell her directly who her favorite character in the stories she told her was, but she knew which stories would hold him.

"He's not mine." She stated simply while shrugging. The woman looked at her daughter quizzically.

"Why don't you tell me who your favorite character is? That way I can immediately think of a story to tell you." The woman looked at her daughter as her face turned a light shade of pink. _Is she blushing?_ The woman thought to herself.

"I…I…Ilikegohan!" She said it quickly but her mother was able to catch the 'han' part. She looked at her daughter with a raised eyebrow and chuckled lightly to herself, wondering why she hadn't thought of that before. She felt a soft kick and smiled apologetically to her daughter. She pet her lightly and began to explain her chuckling from earlier.

"Oh sweetie. I wasn't making fun of you. I think it's cute!" The daughter looked at her closely to make sure that she wasn't lying.

"Really?" She asked, just wanting to make sure. Her mother nodded.

"Yes. I would never make fun of you for something like that…" The girl looked down sadly and her mother could see she was trying to hold back tears. She scooted closer to her daughter and brought her into her arms, patting her back softly. "It's okay baby, you can let it out, I won't tell anyone." She felt two tiny hands grip her neck and then she heard a loud sob coming from the little girl she was holding. After the little girl's sobs subsided, she was able to tell her mother about why she was crying in the first place, sniffling while she was doing.

"E-Erasa, she-she made fu-fun of me when I-I told her…" Her mother looked at her confused.

"Why did Erasa make fun of you Videl?" Her daughter sniffed loudly before answering her again.

"She-she said it was stu-stupid to-to have a cru-crus-crush on some-someone who was-wasn't even r-real." Her mother looked at her closely, and just like she presumed, Videl looked up at her with wide eyes.

"Wh-what do you think G-Gohan would do?" Her mother laughed softly and hugged her. She looked back at her grinning.

"What you have compared to what Gohan has is nothing!" Videl looked at her with her wide eyes again, starting to clear up a little bit.

"R-Really? B-But Gohan is so st-strong. Why would people even m-make fun of h-him?" Her mother grinned at her softly.

"You see Videl, nobody but those very few close friends know that Gohan is that strong. So everyone else just believes that he's a weakling and makes fun of, thinking that he can't do anything about it." Videl cocked her head to the side.

"How come he doesn't do anything about it?" Her mother shrugged her shoulders lightly in answer.

"How should I know? I do know that Gohan doesn't care what people think about him, thinking that the only opinions that mattered were his and people who were VERY close to him. It's a good thing to live by." Videl nodded her head in understanding and started to blush again, this time however it was because she was embarrassed, not because of her crush.

"Yeah… I should probably start doing that…" She blushed a little bit darker. "I didn't do it today with Erasa…" Her mother nodded knowingly.

"I heard about that. Her mother said Erasa didn't wake up until she finally allowed them to put wisky under her nose." Videl ducked her head, trying to hide her red face from her mother. Her mother however shook her head and took the blanket off her daughter. Her daughter looked up to her bashfully and looked down at her toes, trying to avoid staring at her face.

"I should probably apologize to Erasa tomorrow, huh?" Her mother nodded.

"You probably should." She got up and kissed her forehead again. She whispered good night and was ready to close the door to Videl's room when the little girl spoke up again.

"Mommy?"

"Yes sweetie?" Her daughter looked to the floor and then back to her mom, making sure that she didn't check out.

"Gohan… he…he is real…right?" Her mother couldn't help but smile at how innocent her daughter looked, and how fast she was growing up, crushing on boys already.

"He's as real as you or me." She whispered, leaning on the doorframe. She had a feeling that her daughter had more to say.

"If…if he, uh…ever met um, me, he'd um… like-like me, right?" Her daughter looked up at her with a worried look in her eyes that made her mother thinking she was the cutest thing ever once again this night.

"Of course he would Videl, who wouldn't like you?" Videl smiled and leaned back into her pillow after whispering good night to her mother and receiving one in return. She closed her eyes getting ready to go to sleep, feeling safe after she heard the familiar 'click' of her door closing.

-

Gohan stared at Videl strangely from where he was in the doorway. She didn't seem to be in any pain or feeling scared, but she was talking in her sleep, enough so that it woke him up.

"Tell me err…story mommy…'snot mine…likeohan…so stwong…stawt doin' tha…" In all honesty, he thought it was kind of cute. He was about to leave the room and get back to bed, seeing there was no trouble here, when the next words out of her mouth shocked him. "Gohan's weal…rwight?" Gohan stared at her with a slightly open mouth and looked around the room quietly before deciding to 'forget' about what he just heard. He left quickly, hoping that he had enough time to get back to where he was sleeping before the girl in his bed woke up.

-

A/N: Ugh - finished in one shot! Go me! Lol!


	9. Gohan's Dream

Believe…

Beaner-Bop

-

Disclaimer: Nope.

-

Chapter Eight: Gohan's Dream

-

Videl looked at the only horse that was sitting in the stable by the house. It was lying down, asleep, and seemed at peace with the world. She laid her head down and grinned at the sleeping animal, thinking about how sweet it was.

The horse began to stir and Videl looked behind her to see Gohan walking towards her. In the back of her head the name 'Gohan' seemed to be ringing in her mind, it annoyed her some but usually she just ignored it.

"Hey sleepyhead." Gohan grinned as he leaned down beside her. Videl thought that he looked slightly nervous around her but she wasn't sure. "What kept you in bed so late? There isn't anyone sneaking out the back window is there?" Gohan grinned and shook his head.

"Nah, she did that a couple hours ago." Videl rolled her eyes and looked back at Belva. Both of them were silent for a few minutes before Gohan spoke up again. "Do you want her?" Videl's head jerked up quickly.

"W-What?" Gohan nodded to the horse.

"Belva, do you want her? I have a feeling it's going to take a female touch to tame her, and besides, you were the one that calmed Belva down yesterday, and you didn't even do it purposefully. Imagine what you could do if you actually tried." Videl had to admit that she loved the compliments that he was giving her, not used to getting them at home very often.

Her eyes widened as she thought of home. _'Great job Videl! You entirely forgot your friends because you were with a guy…ugh, Lime and Erasa would get such a k-'_

"Lime and Erasa! I have to know if there okay!" She began to bundle up her skirts, getting ready to run into the forest when Gohan stopped her.

"Woah Videl, sheesh, I doubt that you just running into the forest will actually help the two girls you're talking about." Videl blushed but calmed down. She began to explain herself.

"When I remembered Lime and Erasa I guess I just went nuts for a little bit there…sorry." Gohan shrugged his shoulders.

"It's okay…" The two turned to the horse again when she whined, both wondering about the two girls.

"I think I should leave." Videl whispered. Gohan looked at her slowly.

"Why?" Videl shrugged.

"Well, it's not as if I can stay. I mean, think about it. When you get married and all of that stuff, I'll just be in the way." She had a slight joking tone in her voice but Gohan also understood what she meant.

So then why was this thought hurting him so much?

"Yeah…and you need to find your friends too…"

"Exactly."

"I think you should still wait a few days though, maybe get some supplies and what not…" Videl nodded.

"That sounds like a good idea. Besides, you have to be getting tired of me, I mean, I've been here for nearly over a month, maybe even over! I don't know what day it is!" She laughed softly and Gohan nodded.

"Yeah…" he straightened up and began to walk into the house. "I think I'm gonna go back to sleep." Videl looked at him confused.

"Go back to sleep? You just woke up a couple of minutes ago!" Gohan turned around and shrugged as he opened the door.

"Guess I'm just tired." And he went inside.

-

Gohan fell to sleep quickly, he wasn't lying when he said that he was tired. He laid down in the pillows and closed his eyes, falling asleep quickly.

His sleep wasn't the nicest it could have been, a small bits of dream here and there. He grunted in his sleep as the voices began to filter through, though no picture came with any of them.

__

"Of course you know Videl here, she's the daughter of…HERCULE!" a squeaky voice claimed, making Gohan wonder who Hercule was

__

.

"What are you hiding Son Gohan?" Why was there a Son in front of his name? And why was Videl saying it?

__

"My father beat Cell!" Videl seemed angry.

__

"No, I did." Gohan was startled when he found that it was his voice. Not startled enough to wake up though. He began to wonder exactly who Cell 'was'.

__

"What?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you Videl…"

"Go to hell Gohan, you shouldn't lie about things like this you idiot!" He flinched from the tone of Videl's voice and was happy when the words moved on.

__

"I love you Videl."

"I love you to Gohan." Gohan couldn't help the grin that spread across his face.

__

"The girl's mine boy…" Gohan growled at the words, not even very aware that he was, being asleep.

__

"You can't have her! She…She's my mate!" He was startled again and this time it was enough to wake him. Even though he was awake however, that didn't stop the last part of his 'dream'.

__

"…mine now."

He closed his eyes before shaking his head and deciding that it wasn't worth trying to get to sleep. If he had another type of dream like that he didn't even want to think about what would come from it.

-

Videl began to make a list of everything that she would need to take with her on the 'trip'. She was getting quite excited she knew, because she was finally ready to see her 'friends' again. Videl shook her head sadly, feeling sorry to the both of them for not thinking of them very much while she was here with Gohan.

**__**

THINGS TO TAKE

Clothes

Food

Compass

More food

A blanket

Some type of knife 

__

(For both protection and cutting food)

Gohan

Videl looked at the last thing and looked around the room, as if checking to make sure that no one saw her write that. She went quickly to the paper and began to scratch his name out.

-

A/N: Ugh, I've GOT to get rid of this writer's block…

Beaner-Bop


	10. Parting Ways

Believe…

Beaner-Bop

-

A/N: Third story I updated today…

-

Disclaimer: Nada.

-

Chapter Eight: Parting Ways

-

Time had past and Videl was now putting the last few things into a sack that she was going to take on her search for Erasa and Lime. She looked behind her and pointed at the soft blanket that Gohan insisted she take with her to keep her warm.

"But…it comes straight from this house, don't you want it?" Gohan shrugged his shoulders.

"I have a few like it. My mom made it for me but she gives me new ones every other week it seems like." Videl gingerly took the blanket and sat it on the chair, patting it slightly. She turned back to look at Gohan.

"If you're sure…?"

"Take it, I insist." She nodded and smiled and that was when she began to pack her things. What she needed to pack now though was the blanket.

"Gohan, could you hand it to me, please?" Gohan reached over from the chair he was in and threw it at her lightly. She caught it and mock glared at him.

"I'm going to get you for that Gohan!" He grinned at her and brought his feet up onto the small table in front of him.

"I'd like to see you try." She cocked an eyebrow at him before turning back to her packing, she had to get it done soon or she wouldn't be able to start traveling today.

-

A few hours later, Videl hoisted the bag onto Belva's back who she had somehow tamed enough to ride. She turned back to Gohan, both of them were outside, so when she looked at him she saw the gentle breeze pick up the small lock of hair that was in the middle of his face and at the same time massage her cheek. She took in a deep breath before speaking.

"There is absolutely no way for me to repay you." She looked to the side of her, as though trying to find a gift that she could give to him. When she was positive that nothing was going to pop up of thin air for her she turned her full attention back to Gohan. It was easily done seeing as to how he began to hug her.

"Oh- Gohan, you're going to make me cry…and I never cry!" She said stubbornly as she began to hug him back. When the two began to split again, Videl was ready to let go of Gohan, but Gohan wasn't exactly ready to let go of her.

"G-Gohan, what is it?" She saw him swallow lightly and began to wonder what was wrong with him. "Gohan?" She asked, her voice beginning more and more laced with worry.

"Videl…what I'm going to do is probably going to make you…eh…angry, but um… it will pay me back entirely." Videl's eyebrows rose at that and looked up at him expectantly.

"Well?" Before the word was entirely out of her mouth Gohan lowered his head to hers and lightly had his lips touch hers. Videl's eyes widened from shock a bit but began to close as she began to kiss him back, trying to remember that the only reason she was allowing to do this was so that she would have 'paid him back'.

When the two of them split, they looked at each other for who knows how long before splitting apart again.

Videl blinked again and she touched Gohan's cheek lightly. He brought his hand up to cup hers there.

"G-Goodbye Gohan." She grinned lightly at the catch in the beginning of her sentence. Walking backwards to Belva, she kept on talking to him through a strained voice. "I need to leave before I cry."

"Goodbye."

-

Videl looked around her new surroundings, trying to see if there was a trace or a clue or anything that showed that Erasa and Lime had once been here. It had been three days since she had left Gohan's house and she was beginning to wonder why the hell she wasn't able to do all of this easily. Surely the short break she had couldn't make everything as complicated as it was. She's tracked people before - how come she can't now?

"Maybe no one's even been here…" Videl said to herself - trying to calm herself down. Belva whined beside her and Videl turned her attention quickly over to her horse, all of her other thoughts being ones that she wanted to ignore, at least for the moment at least, anyway. She pet Belva's nose lightly before going over to her sack and digging out a small handful of oats.

"Here's a quick treat for your girl. Eating only grass can't taste good but," Videl shrugged her shoulders, "it's the best stuff that you've got." Belva ignored Videl's musings as she quickly ate the oats from Videl's hands. She looked back up at the girl and Videl could almost feel the question that Belva was 'asking' her. 'Is that all I get?' Videl shook her head and lightly petted Belva's snout at the same time, trying not to think that talking to a horse like this probably meant she was mad.

"That's all the oats you can have right now. I want you to have some for the majority of the journey, girl, and that won't be possible if you eat all the oats within the first week!" Videl exclaimed. She turned around and when she did a strange noise came from Belva. If she didn't know better, the horse just snorted at her, but that definetely couldn't be right, right?

She looked back at her horse uncertain, but the shrugged the worry off. _That's just stupid Videl, thinking that a horse could actually understand you._ She shook her head and began to walk farther into the forest, once again looking for the friends that she left alone over a month ago.

-

****

Power…there's so much power…

The saiya-jins can not fight without people there to think they're real…the last of the men of the sixth village we took over are all dead, mistress.

****

Goody, goody…I'll be a princess

Yes, mistress.

****

No more men believe… no more men believe…

Yes.

****

Kill, kill, kill. Saiya-jins can't hurt me…

…

****

Save the Saiya-jins for me.

Yes, mistress.

-

Gohan's head jerked up when it started rain. He could have sworn that the first few drops that hit his windows were black, and there was even a bit of a gray streak on the glass to prove it. However, the clear drops that were falling now seemed to be normal, almost telling him that nothing was wrong. He watched the rainfall outside fall to the ground a bit more before returning to his current carving, trying to take away all the thoughts that were currently in his head.

__

Light and darkness… can't be split…must stay…the same… Gohan's head jerked up at that.

"Who the hell is on my property?" He yelled. He began to spread his ki out, trying to see if he could find the person that was hiding themselves and whispering things into his mind. Her felt no one but did find a prescence. It wasn't an evil prescence, but at the same time, it wasn't a good feeling.

Whatever it was, when it finally left, Gohan began to get a very uneasy feeling in his stomach.

__

What the hell was that?

-

**__**

The war began, now never ends

-

A/N: Whew. Do my hands hurt. Hope everybody liked that! Sorry it's short!!

Beaner-Bop


	11. I Hear You

Believe…

Beaner-Bop

-

A/N: WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE GOHAN/VIDEL SECTION OF FANFICTION.NET????

-

Disclaimer: Nothing.

-

Chapter Nine: I Hear Your

-

Videl silently sipped the water from her cupped hands, Belva drinking the water from the river right beside her. Videl knew that the both of them were tired as hell and needed to sleep but for some reason she got the most uneasy feeling in her stomach from wherever they were, and she was lucky, she knew, that Belva felt the same. Otherwise she doubted the horse would let the girl push it as much as she did.

When she was done, she took a quick scan at the area she was around before looking back at Belva.

"Maybe…we can go a little farther. There's no real reason not to, right?" Videl said, grabbing the side of the halter of the horse and leading it farther down the way. Both of them seemed to be looking around the area nervously, not quite aware if anyone was watching them or not.

Unconsciously, Videl began to speed up her pace, and unknown to her, Belva followed just as hard.

A few hours later the two of them came to a clearing, tired and exhausted, and yet, still had that uneasy feeling in the pits of their stomachs.

"This can't be good…" Videl whispered, her eyes darting back and forth, trying to make sure that nothing can sneak up on them.

Regrettably, Videl let out a large yawn that made Belva look at her.

"Sorry." She whispered. Belva began to walk in front of her and neighed when she stopped, Videl taking it that that meant 'Get over here.'.

When she did, Belva began to forcefully, though lightly, push her onto the ground. Videl tried to stay up but when Belva wouldn't allow that, she shrugged.

"I guess catching a few winks of…" She never finished the thought however, because the moment her eyes closed, she went to sleep.

-

About ten miles from where Videl and Belva are currently a large fire showed on the horizon, blazing reds, yellows, oranges, and even a little white into the night sky.

And the screams coming from the fire were enough to make anybody cringe.

"Leave us! Leave us! We've done-" A quick thump to the head quieted the woman yelling. Someone who apparently knew more than what she should have from the way she was yelling - and if she didn't know more it was a fun kill.

The person who slapped the woman down was someone, or _thing_ in a black cloak. With swift movements, the _thing_ went closer to the fire, it did however leave the children behind, a young girl and even younger boy, sobbing quietly around their dead mother.

There were only five _thing_s in black cloaks, and over one hundred people living in the village, but apparently that didn't matter. No one knew how to deal with these things that are slowly killing them all off.

If anybody looked over to the children, the ones crying over their mother, they would have noticed the dark figure slowly bending down and begin to pick them up, the children still crying, and turn around to leave with them.

Luckily, no one did.

-

****

Death and terror all around.

-

…Mistress? Are you alright?

****

Big brother wants something…

What does he want Mistress? We'll get it for him immediately…

****

He wants a girl…a pretty girl…

We shall bring him a selecti-

****

No groups…he wants a pretty girl

We'll let him choose who he wants mistress.

****

…He wants a saiya-jins girl…

…if that is what he wants, that is what he shall get.

****

Big brother doesn't want a saiya-jin, uh uh.

…then what does he want mistress?

****

He wants a saiya-jins _girl_.

…I-I don't understand.

****

Silly girl, you want to touch mistress' pretty brother…he wants a saiya-jins girl…not a saiya-jin, but yet has the right to a _good_ saiya-jins touch. …Do you understand, little girl?

…I…I think so, mistress.

****

Good girl. Now leave. I want to go to sleep. Get brother to sing me to sleep?

I will try mistress.

-

__

*He wants a saiya-jins girl* Videl's eyes snapped open at the whispered words. She looked around quickly and thought that she saw a person, quickly followed by a golden streak, but she decided that she must have been dreaming, or something was playing tricks on her eyes.

She tried to settle back to sleep, though she felt so uneasy… something was odd about how she heard those words. They sounded so real, she could practically feel the breath of the person saying the words on her skin.

Videl sat up, looked to her side to see Belva sleeping still, then looked forward, hoping that she wouldn't accidentally wake her horse up.

__

What if that person I saw was real? She thought to herself silently, wondering just what it was that she saw. _I must be going mad…_ she thought to herself. _Everything I'm seeing, thinking, can't be real…Did he say saiya-jin?_

Videl blinked and began to lay back down as soft soothing words from her mother began to come through her foggy mind.

__

"…My sister knew these brave people, who call themselves saiya-jins. Do you want me to tell you some of their stories Videl?"

"Yes, mama."

"Alright, oh! How about this? When my sister was very young, she would go to the other towns with some of the older girls and they ran into this liiiiiiiiiiittle boy. They all giggled at him and such, what a sweet, cute, little boy. When they asked him for his name, he said that it was Goku…"

~

__

"…and after Chichi and Goku married, do you know what happened?"

"They had a wee wittle baby!"

"That's right Videl! And do you want to know that wee wittle baby's name?"

"Uh huh!"

"His name, was Gohan."

Videl began to fall into a deep slumber from the memory of her mother's voice, when one last, small stray thought when through her mind.

__

I never knew Gohan was a saiya-jin… She thought to herself before darkness claimed her once again.

-

A/N: Sore hands!!!!


	12. Right When You Need 'Em

Believe…

Beaner-Bop

-

A/N: Hi…again.

****

NOTE: The chapter numbers have been off for a while, I THINK I have them right now. (meaning that this chapter IS chapter eleven, though the chapter before this said 'nine')

-

Disclaimer: Nope.

-

Chapter Eleven: Right When You Need 'Em

-

The brown haired girl looked through the trees at the sleeping girl and horse. It took her a while to find her, to figure out what her 'mistress' was saying was hard enough. To finally find the girl was even harder.

__

But there she is… Her mind thought happily. The girl let out a large grin, that took up most of her face and began to come out of her hiding spot in the clearing.

__

Time to play, little, little girl.

-

Videl's eyes snapped open the moment Belva neighed a warning but it was to late. Whatever was by them, got them quickly. In a few moments Videl couldn't help but feel like she was in a bag, being carried off.

She heard Belva's neigh and tried to fight whoever it was that was holding her, doing everything within her power but nothing seemed to work.

__

"Fight as hard as you want pretty girl. You'll be happy when we get to where we're going, yes…very happy." Said the voice, Videl could only guess that it was her captor. She heard hoofs moving closer to them but in a second they stopped.

Videl got a sick feeling in her stomach, wondering what exactly had just happened to Belva. She made herself feel slightly better with the fact that she never heard the 'thud' of…something dropping.

Videl heard talking all of a sudden, nothing she could understand, but anyway, a lot of talking. Things began to touch her through the 'bag' that she was in, like they were trying to make sure she was in there.

She tried to say that they 'didn't need to do that'…in a sense, only to discover that she couldn't talk at all.

All of a sudden, the talking ceased and Videl felt as though she was moving again. Once again, the destination was unclear. A door opened and then she was dropped onto the floor.

She was given back her sight fairly quickly to learn that she was in a room, a huge bed, a closet and bureau were all in her room. There were a few other doors making Videl wonder for a moment where they led to when she figured out a better question. She turned slightly so that the other girl could hear her better.

"Where the hell are we?" She rasped out. She was able to speak again but her voice seemed awfully sore for some reason.

When she didn't get an answer she turned to look at the place where the odd girl was standing before.

She wasn't there.

Videl swallowed softly before standing up slowly, being careful of any injuries she might not have known she had gotten from the little journey she just went on. Videl winced slightly, finding a few bruises. As far as she could tell though, she didn't have anything to bad.

Looking around, Videl had an odd little thought surface.

__

I really wish I were at Gohan's…

-

****

The heros who would us defend

Are nowhere to be found.

-

It was amazing at how fast an angry horse could get your attention.

Or maybe it wasn't.

All Gohan knew though that Belva was one scary horse when she was angry.

"Belva…where's Videl?" He asked the horse, finally figured out the odd thing about her. The fact that Videl was strangely absent from her.

The horse looked at him angrily, almost as if saying 'Do I look like I know?'. Gohan was just about to put her back into the stables, figuring Belva split up from Videl because she was angry at her when an odor that did not belong to the horse nor Videl came to him. His eyes widened when he recognized it.

"Oh…oh no."

He didn't bother to let go of Belva as he put his fingers to his forehead, muttered something, and then the two of them were out of sight.

He might need her as evidence.

-

"There's got to be a way out of here…" Videl thought to herself, climbing onto the bed, trying to see if the window was any looser yet, than it was five tries ago. She let out a frustrated screech when she found out that yes indeed - it was still locked up as tightly as possible.

"Kami…I just want to go home…what's wrong with wanting to go home?" She thought to herself silently. Videl was about to turn to cry into her pillows when her door opened with no warning given.

Videl stared at the newcomer with hatred. She admitted silently that he looked good, but seeing as how _happy_ he was that she was locked in her room - his looks didn't mean much.

"Good day, dear." He said. He smiled at her in a way that made her want to throw up. She was silently thankful that she took a quick look-around of her room, she now knew the exact route to the bathroom so she could throw up. "How are you feeling?" He continued all to cheerfully.

"I feel like crap, I want the hell out of here!" The man actually seemed shocked by her answer. She wondered if anybody had ever yelled at him before but decided for the moment that she really didn't care. "Who _are_ you?" she decided, she wanted some answers. It was easier if you knew the person she was talking to. The man grinned at her again.

"I, pretty girl, am Dr. Gero." Videl didn't know what did it, the smile, the voice, the name… but the last thing she remembered was him getting closer to her, and her falling into a deep sleep.

-

Gohan stood before two men - this was the 'important' meeting in his mind. If he could get these two to listen to him, he could get the rest of the council when this was brought up easily with their support.

"Dad, I'm telling, he's _back_." His father Goku, was looking at Gohan like he was betrayed or something.

"Gohan, how can you honestly say that - I killed him, you were there Gohan." Gohan tried to interrupt him, but Goku wouldn't let him, "Gohan, I told you, if you were having bad dreams or something still from the war, you should have _told_ me, or at least _someone_." Goku shook his head at him. "We all have those flashbacks, you need to know that's what they are because _this_ is what happens. You begin to think that the war is still going when-" Gohan cut his dad off.

"Dad, listen to me, Videl, the girl Goten has been talking to you about? She left a while ago. Her horse came back today, dad, and that _smell_ covered the horse. I'm telling you dad, Gero's _back_." Goku looked at him for a few minutes before sighing and looking at the man beside him.

"What do you think, Vegeta?" The smaller man shrugged and was silent for a moment before looking up at Gohan.  
"Where's the horse?" Vegeta asked. Gohan pointed to the trees where Belva was currently standing. Vegeta went to walk over to her, and Goku followed him.

Gohan stood and waited, hoping that everything he just told his dad was wrong, that nothing was wrong, that-

His dad and Vegeta walked back, pensive looks on their faces. He looked at his dad first who pointed to Vegeta.

"He's the prince." Gohan looked at him and Vegeta shrugged.

"You're correct about the scent but…it's not enough evidence to get people worried." He was silent and Gohan was worried that he was done but was relieved when Vegeta finally began to speak again. "However, it is enough to at least investigate." Gohan let nodded to him.

"Will I…have to be present for the council or-" Vegeta shook his head no along with the exasperated look Goku gave him.

"You aren't going in front of the council with all of them wanting your _blood!_" Goku stated. Vegeta nodded to that.

"It would become a contest of proving that the war is over because _you're_ the one who proposed it. We don't need that if it is." Gohan nodded, like he expected as much. He looked around for a just a moment, wondering what to do when he began to head over to Belva.

"I guess I'll go…and…take her home…" he said more to himself than the other two. Goku nodded anyway.

"Good idea, and get some rest. I'm making sure that you're going to be a part of this."

-

A/N: YAY! I'm moving the plots in all my stories!!! I feel so proud of myself - which I shouldn't be, seeing how long it takes me to update.

Beaner-Bop


	13. Kami, No!

Believe…

Beaner-Bop

-

A/N: OMG, it is getting so hard to find times to write. I'm now just getting able to (it's the middle of the night, my brother has a friend over and we're baby-sitting two boys, both under the age of ten and both seem to think that going to sleep before three in the morning is 'bad' - not to mention 'We're not the boss of them.') Someone, save us please…or at least me. That'd be nice

-

Disclaimer: None - I own. - jk

-

Chapter Twelve: Kami, no!

-

"Pretty dresses, pretty dresses. Do you want a pretty dress? Pretty dress, pretty dress…" Videl woke to those words. She mumbled lightly, nothing she'd remember later on and grasped her head as it began to figure out what her surroundings were. "You're such a pretty little girl, you need a pretty, little, dress." Said the voice again. Videl turned to look at her.

The voice belonged to a woman, a few years older than she was. Blond hair, blue eyes, the stereotypical pretty girl.

She was going through a closet in the room that Videl recognized as the one she was trying to break out of before. As the woman reached out, still humming her little tune, Videl noticed a small emblem on her wrist. A triangle with a circle in the center on it and a line in the center of that, starting before the top point of the triangle, goes through the circle, and past the bottom of the triangle about an inch. Videl looked at her own wrist as a reflex and was surprised to see she had a circle on it, though nothing else. She licked her thumb and tried to wipe it off but it didn't work. Looked like it was going to stay.

"Won't leave, can't leave, bad girl. Why do you try to take off the gift? Gifts are nice, I like gifts, do you have a gift for me?" Videl looked at the woman, scared of who she was. The woman didn't seem to notice, she just looked at Videl, wondering why she didn't like 'the gift'. as she called it - that and wondering why Videl didn't have a gift for her.

"Oh- oh! I like the gift…A lot, really. Umm…so…" Videl trailed off for a moment, wondering what the next god idea at the moment was. "Er…What's your name…friend…?" The woman smiled at her happily, apparently this was something she actually liked.

"I'm Annette, silly girl." Videl nodded slowly.

"And the man who came in earlier is…who?" The girl's smile began to sort of change, though that isn't really right. More precisely, her face started to change. The smile stayed perfectly still, but the muscles around it seemed to flex, as though she was trying to say something but couldn't, and her eyes looked scared, angry, and empty before returning to their annoying brightness, along with her 'normal' face.

"He's my…hu-brother. He's. My. Brother. The master." Videl stared at her for a moment, wondering what was wrong with the girl, but not being able to really put her finger on it.

Before Videl had a chance to learn more about what was going on the door burst open and a girl, a year or so younger than Videl walked in, her eyes slightly panicked. The looked changed to a glare when she saw Annette.

"Mistress! What are you doing here! The Master said you're not allowed." Annette stomped her foot on the ground angrily.

"But I wanted to see the girl!" The girl shook her head angrily, walking into the room quickly, grabbing Annette by the arm and began to somehow manage to drag the woman out. Videl could see how the younger girl could do it - Annette was _skinny._ Right before going out the doors of Videl's room (they're locked from the outside), the girl turned back, still holding a screaming and sobbing Annette.

"The master would like to see you later on. A servant girl will come to get you an hour or so before - so they can help you get ready." The girl bowed to her. "Good rest, Lady. You will take one, won't you? You'll probably need it." And with that, the two went outside.

-

"Whatever you do Gohan, don't try to get the meeting place out of it, since, of course you can't go." Goku said to Gohan casually, looking for one of his many badges. Gohan grabbed the one that went next in line on his father's clothes and handed it to him. "After all, it'd be wrong of me to tell you, and you'd look bad if you asked." Gohan nodded, though looking confused. He and Vegeta had been saying odd things like that for the past ten, twenty minutes. His dad looked at him sideways and rolled his eyes. "You still don't get it, do you?" Gohan looked up at him confused.

"What? You want me to ask?" Gohan replied, ignoring his father's sound of disgust.

"No! What have I been telling you all this time? Vegeta?" Gohan shrugged, getting even more confused than before.

"That I'm not supposed to ask you where the conference was taking pla-" Goku stopped him before he could finish.

"More specific Gohan." Gohan looked at his dad, who was putting on the last badge to his clothes.

"That you hated conferences in the shops and pu-" Gohan stopped and hit his forehead. "I am such an idiot." Goku nodded happily at that, trying to get a rise out of Gohan, after seeing that it didn't work he stopped.

"You know where the conference is being held at?" Goku looked around the room, making sure he had everything, before turning to his son.

"The only place you and Vegeta didn't tell me."

"And that is…?"

"Our house?" His father shook his head and shrugged.

"Close, but no cigar. The woods by our house, that one meeting place that they ordered you to make when you beat one of the sons in a training program. They figured you wouldn't expect it. They really don't like you. I get such a kick out of it." Gohan rolled his eyes.

"Thanks dad."

"No problem, any time!" After shaking his head one more time at his father, said father got up to leave. "Well, see ya Gohan. Real meeting 'won't' start in an hour s you shouldn't figure out a place to hide soon," Gohan rolled his eyes. He knew if he asked Vegeta something about this his answers would be somewhat exactly like his fathers.

Goku went and left the room, most likely to warn Chichi that a few other Saiya-jins were going to be near the house soon…

Gohan sat down in a chair in the room and lifted his feet to the small table in front of it. "Now how should I hide…"

-

Videl put on her the dress the girl gave her. She was about the same age as the other girl who came in and took Annette. Silently, Videl wondered where the girl was.

A noise came from behind her, so she turned quickly and glared at the servant girl who somehow managed to knock over a chair. The younger girl grinned at Videl sheepishly.

"Sorry." Videl turned back to the mirror in the small bathroom that connected in her room. She tied the last string on the dress then took a step back to figure out just exactly how she looked.

"I look like princess." For some reason the servant girl looked immensely pleased. She probably thought that that was what Videl has 'wanted' to look like.

"Yes, it is a wonderful dress, is it not?" Staring at the girl who Videl has now nicknamed 'Weird' in her mind, she answered, "Um…yeah, sure - whatever. Now that I'm done with this can we go?" Weird looked shocked.

"G-go!" She began to get this really large smile on her face. Before Videl had any idea of what was happening, the girl began to laugh. Even tears came out of her eyes. "Lady, Lady! Surely you know better! You are so humorous!" Videl nodded her head slowly, wondering what the heck the girl was talking about.

"Uh, yea, a laugh a minute…what did I say that was funny?" Weird stopped laughing at Videl almost suddenly and just stared at the girl with these big round eyes.

"Lady, you can't go yet!" Videl looked around the room.

"Why not?" Weird somehow pulled a suitcase that was half her size out of nowhere.

"You don't have your make-up on yet!"

"Oh, someone help me…"

"I'm going to! We can work - together!"

-

Goku looked over at Vegeta and shook his head. The actual meeting hadn't started yet. All that was really going on was talk of who was better, who's family was better, who owns the best house. Goku laughed out line when Vegeta raised his hand to that one. Stammerings of 'Of course you do''s and 'How could we forget''s started coming from their mouths.

PSHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWW[1]

Everyone stopped sucking up to Vegeta immediately and took their seats. Nearly all of them got hit with that ki blast that he sent out. He probably wanted to start the meeting, they figured.

Once everyone had settled in the meeting started quickly.

"Gentlemen, old news. Dr. Gero and his entire army was destroyed." The five other saiya-jins who were there pumped their arms in the air in celebration of that.

"New news - we don't think that's completely true." The saiya-jins began to sit down slowly and looked at Vegeta and Goku closely, the only two unhappy looking ones at the table.

'But…but sire," The one speaking was named Celer, "That isn't possible…I mean, we all saw it, the war the battles, there is no way that -" Vegeta held up his hand for silence.

"There is a way, many ways. What we need to do is figure out ways…and then give them to someone to work with and figure out exactly what needs to be done." Another Saiya-jin snorted. Banan.

"And who shall this person be? Gee, I think I know - Goku's _brat."_ Goku looked up at Banan from that comment, but restrained himself from doing anything about it, knowing he would be getting into trouble for it if he did.

"Goten isn't old enough to handle issues like this yet, Banan - but thanks for giving him your vote of confidence." Goku threw out. Hey, you win some, you lose some. Anyway, it wasn't as bad as it could've been.

"Your older brat. Goran or something-"

"Gohan." Goku put in.

"Like I give a rat's ass. Do you honestly think that kid can help us? If anything, that kid-"

"-that kid what."

"should-"

"-you say it and I'll beat you to a blood-"

"die."

"ENOUGH!" Vegeta yelled over them. Everyone skooched back into their leather seats, looking up at Vegeta at the head of the table.

He looked at each one slowly and individually, silently challenging them to do something like that again.

"Now, that you've all had a chance to grow up a little, I think the best course of action is to continue, and to stop kissing my ass for the time being, all right?" The six other people around the table nodded silently. "Good. Back to this Gero business, I think we should send people out-" One of the men raised their hand silently getting Vegeta's attention.

"Sir, I was wondering, what exactly is our proof of this? A dream, a vision?" The other men nodded and Vegeta decided to go along with it.

"A scent." The men looked un easy slightly.

"What…what was it - where was it-" When they asked the question Goku got up and left the room, he walked straight out into the forest by his home and stretched one last time before untying Belva and bringing her into the room, silently he wondered where Gohan was hiding so he could hear all of this.

"There it is, men." Vegeta pointed to the horse when he saw Goku bring it in. For a moment, the five other Saiya-jins were confused as to how this was evidence but they got up and went over to it when Vegeta did.

Goku tightened his hold on the reins when the others came over, he could feel that Belva was nervous.

"That's the Zaeis' horse isn't it? The crazy one?" Asked one of the men. Goku shook his head.

"You were gone when this happened, they sold it to my son, cheap, he gave it to a girl. I guess she was able to bond with it. Now the girl's gone and only one other scent linger…" One Saiya-jin stepped forward and sniffed delicately. Stepping back, his eyes began to widen as he realized what it was.

"The synthetic metal he created…" He was silent for a moment. "How do you not know that this girl and horse just…went some place near it?" Goku looked up at him closely.

"Do you know how many things Gero created with this metal?" The men shook their heads. "He used it on only one thing - 'people'. Servants, warriors, if he wanted more and he didn't have enough live ones he'd go and make them. The girl that my son was hosting was taken. We have no idea where she is, if she's dead, living, nothing. What we do know is that we should at least look into this. We could all be in serious shit if anything of Gero's remains." The Saiya-jins all shared a few glances before heading back to the table.

-

Videl followed Weird, who had finished painting her face. The girl was talking a mile a minute.

Videl wasn't.

Instead she was glaring at Weird's back, wondering what was going on.

"…and then the master told the boy that he was going to get back at him for what his people did to him and his army, you know? And then the boy just looked at him all smug-like, threw back his head, and laughed! How conceited! How can anyone do that to the master, you know? What do you think of the master? He likes you, you know, so don't you worry about that…" Videl tuned the girl out rather easily, after all, Erasa was like this back home. Videl flinched at that, taking a moment to think about her friends.

Because of how well Videl was ignoring Weird, it made it even easier to run into her when she stopped in the middle of the hall and stopped talking at the same time.

"Oh my-I forgot! Oh, but you mustn't be seen out of your room without someone guiding you! You could get lost! Oh, what to do? What to do!" A second of thinking and, "I know!" She opened the door to the side and pushed Videl in rather roughly, not noticing nor caring of Videl's dicomfort. "Stay in here till I get back, kay?" Videl couldn't get an answer out before the girl closed the door in her face. She turned around to see where she was.

"A storage room…figures." She whispered to herself. She sat down on the stool in the middle of the room, but after a few minutes of looking around and sitting, she got bored. She got up, stretched, and went over to the boxes, not caring about privacy.

The first box she opened had a wedding dress in it. Her eyes widened when she saw her name in the letter that was pinned to the dress.

__

Get dress to the dark-haired girl (Videl - Angel?) for sizes once she agrees. 

She dropped it like it burnt her hands, putting the lid back onto the box. She grabbed a few others, one box was filled with portraits of her…of all ages doing things she barely remembered.

"Horse back riding, age 4, singing with mother, age 6..." Videl began reading from the back of the portraits, she grabbed some on the other side f the box, wondering what the most recent looked like. Her eyes widened when she saw it.

"Me in my bed and…" She squinted closer at it but dropped it back into. "Oh my kami, disgusting!" She started to grab another box when on a whim she decided to go to the back. She had to climb over quite a few boxes and came close to twisting her ankles a few times but eventually she got to one. She wondered for a moment where she should start when she saw a few boxes labeled, 'My lovely Annette'. She got to her knees and began to pry one of the boxes opened.

In the third box she made a discovery about Annette that she really wished she didn't.

"That's Annette alright, but who's that beside her? That looks like…oh my Kami…that's Gero!" Videl thought about this for a moment before flinching at what mental picture she was getting, under the picture book she was holding was a notebook. She grabbed it, wondering, and hoping for some answers to come to her with it. She flipped a few pages when she saw her name come up.

__

Annette no longer listens. The little bitch, who does she think she is? I'm getting older, I know what I'm doing, what does she think she can do to me? I'm the smartest- No matter. It's time to do something about her. Destroying her would ruin everything I've worked for. Maybe I should just…change her. Let her have a different point of view. Good, very good… Then I shall change, and change I will, for that little, little Videl.

Videl stopped reading and dropped the book back into the box, feeling like a shell of some sort. She sat onto the stool, thinking about the date she saw on the paper and everything else.

"What mess am I in?" She asked herself silently. The noise of Weird's fast footsteps outside her door was the only answers she got.

-

A/N: I'm done with the chapter…YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lot longer chapter than I was planning too…

[1] - My sound for a slow ki blast…so bad…lol


	14. Moving Right Along

Believe…

Beaner-Bop

-

A/N: I'm writing a little lately more…go me.

-

Disclaimer: Please.

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Chapter Thirteen: Moving Right Along…

-

Gohan looked up at the sky silently. Tomorrow his father and a small troop of Saiya-jins were going to investigate Videl's disappearance.

Well…maybe they weren't going to investigate for that reason…but it's what he hoped they could find traces for. Gohan swallowed nervously, wondering how close his father was to being ready to leave.

Gohan shut his eyes tightly in a moment of anger. _My father can go, and not me? Not me? The one who brought all the evidence to the table, the one that's the most capable in all respects for this mission? _Before he got any angrier a thought slowly crawled into his mind and refused to leave.

__

But then again, if I was capable, I would've beaten Gero the first time around.

-

Videl looked at the door as it opened, expecting to see 'Weird' again, but instead coming face to face with none other than Annette. To her astonishment though, it didn't look as though Annette saw her. She walked straight into the room, turned, and shut the door as quickly and as quietly as she could. Videl saw her sit down in front of the door, blocking anyone from leaving or going through the door. The girl brought her knees up to her face and curled up into a little ball, quivering.

Videl stared at her for a moment, wondering what she should do. She was at a complete loss - what do you do in times like these? She was never certain…This is definitely something Lime, or even Erasa, were better at than she was.

Nevertheless, she bit her lip, got up, and slowly moved her way over to the girl. She stood beside her for a moment, wondering if the girl would notice her.

The girl stayed a small quivering mass.

Biting her lip a little harder, Videl reached her shaky hand out to touch her. Annette swirled around at her touch, wondering what was going on.

"I don't want the stinging potion! I don't want the stinging potion! I don't like bees! I don't like bees! The stinging potion feels like _bees!"_ She whispered harshly, glaring at Videl. Videl swallowed but began to sit down beside the girl. For some reason the girl wasn't moving away from her and Videl viewed this as a good sign.

"What stinging potion? I don't have any stinging potion." She whispered back to her. Annette nodded.

"I know you don't, but brother does." She sniffed and rubbed her nose. "And it hurts a lot. It hurts my head…make me feel funny…I don't like feeling like that though." Videl nodded slowly. Annette was talking so…clearly. It was amazing to her. Yes, there still isn't much sense, but…the girl seemed more…real.

"I'm sure you don't…do you know what this..ah…potion does to you?" Annette shook her head.

"Nuh-uh. I know when I don't have it for a long time though. I know then… And I don't feel as bad…I actually feel smarter…and, and better!" Annette nodded her head many times and very quickly.

On an impulse that was completely new to her, Videl reached over and hugged Annette. "You're smart right now Annette, don't you worry a bit about that." Annette sniffed delicately an wrapped her arms around Videl, and whether Videl was ready for it or not, Annette began to cry.

-

Goku decided against wearing the formal uniform for the investigation. There was no point and if his instincts were telling him right, this was going to take some time. So why spend so much time in those scruffy suits when you could wear something that was nice and comfortable? So all he was wearing now was his training gi.

He was currently at the palace waiting for his king to move his butt and get his little group together. _What the hell could be taking them so long?_ he thought to himself.

Finally, ten minutes later, some interesting, and also, VERY loud sounds were coming from down the hall. Goku brought a hand up to his forehead and hit it lightly. _Why Vegeta? Why, why, why can't you pick the ones for this? Why is it always the whole board…NOT including me? They always choose the strongest and the burliest…we could use some brains here people! _Goku shook his head.

Finally, four male saiya-jins and one female saiya-jin walked into the room. They each saluted him which included a small head bow at the end.

"General Kakkarott sir, we're here reporting for duty, sir!" Goku looked at them in their formal clothes and had to hold back a grin. _Those are only comfy if you have a battle to take your mind off of 'em…heh. _He nodded his head back to them.

"Good. I'm sure the other members of the board have told you of your mission already?" All of them nodded. "Good." He took in breath, "let's move out."

-

Erasa smiled as she sat back down at the table that she and Lime were sharing. She put one of the two drinks in front of her friend and began to sip happily from her mug. Lime put her finger on the rim of the mug and began to trace around it silently but didn't take a sip. After a few minutes Erasa finally got tired of it.

"Come on, Lime! Cheer up! If there's anyone that was in our village that could survive something like this its Videl! She's strong and smart and has always been independent!" Lime nodded and finally brought the beverage up to her lips.

After sipping it for a few seconds she put it back down.

"But aren't you still worried about her? I mean, what could've happened to her, it been ages since we saw her last, Erasa!" Erasa grabbed a hold of the other girl's hand and held it tightly in both of her own.

"I know, but we also have to keep moving. Whether Videl is okay or not, if we stayed where we were, two more women from our village would've been killed." Erasa padded her hands after saying that.

Lime looked up at her with tears in her eyes.

"Us?" Erasa nodded.

"Us."

-

Gohan glared at his father's back as he and the five others, rode their horses out of town. It wasn't fair, it wasn't right! He knew what was going on better than they did, they were just searching because they were scared, he was searching _for her._

Gohan felt something nudge him from behind. Turning, he couldn't stop the small grin that came to his face.

"Hey Belva, you want to go find Videl?" The horse neighed at him, "I'll take that as a yes."

It didn't take long for Gohan to get the two of them back to his house. When he was there he grabbed some things he figured he'd need, mostly things he made sure Videl had with her when she left. Putting it all into a sack, he threw it over his shoulder and put some reins onto Belva.

He patted her on her neck lightly before mounting. Taking a steadying breath, Gohan prayed that Belva could somehow truly understand his next words.

"Take me to the last place you saw, Videl." Gohan whispered harshly, anger once again beginning to cloud his mind.

The horse began to run.

-

Videl patter Annette's head, trying to get the other girl to calm down some more. The girl wasn't crying as hard now, but was still having pretty alarming hiccups. Videl instructed her to hold her breath until the hiccup sensation went away and she felt Annette follow her instructions.

"Feel better?" She asked. She felt the girl nod her head. Videl sighed for a second. "Annette?" She asked, her eyes widening.

"W-What?" The girl whispered.

"Was…was brother always your brother?" Videl had been wondering how to word the question and that was the only way she could come up with. Annette hiccupped again before shrugging her skinny shoulders.

"I don't know. All I remember is-is-is brother." Videl looked at her closely.

"Annette, how long ago do you remember?" Annette turned her eye skyward and thought for a moment.

"About eight years ago." Videl's eyes widened.

"Eight years?" Annette nodded, quite positive.

"But…you've got to be past Twenty…maybe older…" Videl whispered silently, trying to put this all together in her head.

"So?"

"So…this is a lot more confusing than I wish it was."

-

Goku looked around the area of the forest they entered silently. Going on scent alone was something Saiya-jins were used to, but they weren't used to it suddenly disappearing.

"Where could it've gone?" Asked one of the males of the group, Iwik. Goku silently cursed. He couldn't pick up a scent for the life of him.

__

I wonder if the council are laughing their asses off right now. Goku brought his fingers to his temples and rubbed them silently. He shook his head as the next thoughts passed through his mind._ Gohan would know where to look. He always had a knack for-_

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The female in the group got zapped by some kind of laser where she was standing, and then somehow disappeared.

He threw a warning to the others, basically telling them 'heads up' before going over to where she once was.

Not like he needed to.

-

A/N: chapter Done! Yay! Go me!

Bean


	15. Waking Up

Believe…

Beaner-Bop

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A/N: Hey.

-

Disclaimer: Please…

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Chapter Fourteen: Waking Up

-

Goku's eyes itched. That was the first thing that came to him. The next thing was that no matter how much his eyes widened, he was unable to see anything but black.

As he got more aware, he realized that there was a cloth covering them. He took in a deep breath, and though no one could tell, his eyes widened.

__

Metal, metal, oils, and a whole lot of that one metal…Gero's metal.

He gnashed his teeth together in silent anger, more angry with himself than anyone else. _I should have known it'd be a trick!_

He heard rustling beside him and was able to figure out who it was quickly enough. It was the female of the group, with the sound of pain she made. It brought Goku back to the present and to his blinded eyes and yes - bound hands.

He sighed but other than that didn't change his position.

A few minutes later, the others woke up, and a few minutes after that, quiet footsteps and silent laughter came into the room, making Goku wince.

"Hello Saiya-jins, how are you?" Said a sickeningly familiar voice.

Gero.

They all stayed silent, the other five Saiya-jins waiting for Goku to make the first move…of course he had no idea what the hell he was going to do, he couldn't even tell where he was for Kami's sake!

He could tell something though. He sniffed a little bit more, smelling Gero. It smelled like him but something was different, very different.

"Been up to something, Gero?" Goku ventured, wondering if Gero would freely tell him what was going on.

"When am I not, Kakarott? Really? Tell me, how is that _son_ of yours doing?" Goku stiffened as he always did when someone began talking about his family. A growl escaped him, making Gero laugh.

He stopped quickly though, and Goku could practically feel Gero's mounting anger, though he wasn't quite sure why it was suddenly rising.

"It's a good thing he isn't here…he wouldn't like what I have." Goku risked another question to him.

"What do you have, Gero?" Goku could feel Gero's smirk through his skin, he was so sure he was smirking.

"I have a new bride." Tiny freezing streaks of pain started flowing through his body, as only one thought raced through his mind.

__

For the love of Kami, he thought to himself silently, hearing his comrades struggle slightly in their bindings, _don't be Videl._

He knew his luck wasn't that good.

But he thought he'd pray a little anyway.

-

"Lady! Mistress!" The servant girl - 'Weird' again, was calling. Videl could hear her opening and shutting doors, trying to remember which one she threw Videl into. Videl looked at Annette quickly, whose clearer eyes were starting to widen from panic. She looked to Videl.

"I don't want the shot! I don't want the shot!" She whispered desperately. Videl nodded to her and looked around the room frantically.

"Um…stay her and hide, I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can. Get down before the girl gets here!" Annette nodded and followed Videl's instructions. Videl composed herself, made sure Annette was well hidden behind some boxes before opening the door, and waved the girl over.

When the girl saw her, a look of relief went over her features. She walked up to Videl and grabbed her wrist somewhat painfully.

"Oh, thank goodness you're here! I totally forgot which room I put you in. Hurry, hurry! We have to get to the lab immediately! The master just found something out that might change everything!" Videl looked at and started to get a slightly panicked feeling in her gut.

"Why do we need to go to the lab?" Videl asked the younger girl. The younger girl looked at her and giggled.

"So you can get your shot." Videl's eyes widened, all of Annette's words coming back to her. She started to struggle against the girl, who was holding onto her even tighter with an impossible grip and was looking at Videl confused.

"Why are you acting like this? Everyone here gets shots of some sort or another." Videl glared at her harshly.

"Strange, how I don't want to be here!" Videl snapped, still struggling. 'Weird' looked at her and glared at her harder. Videl had a slightly sinking feeling in her gut as she watched the girl raise her hand and brought it close to her face with an extremely rapid speed. Videl closed her as soon as -

WHAP!  
Videl winced, and reached her free hand up to touch where Weird slapped her. The girl was still glaring at her, but now pointing a finger at her angrily.

"Do you know what the master has done for you! You should be feeling grateful! Not standing here, being cruel to the person who was so kind as to bring you here!" Before Videl could answer, Weird began to drag her farther down the hall, but now her fingers were digging so harshly into Videl's wrist that it was all she could think about, at least until she tripped.

Under other circumstances, this could have been seen as funny, but with Videl having a tear break out of her eyes as she allowed Weird to drag her, painfully, the rest of the way to the lab.

-

Her mane was hitting his face, the way he was riding the horse but he didn't care. Belva was moving her legs faster than he was positive she ever did before. He clutched tightly to her mane and leaned farther down, hopefully, they'd get there soon.

Swish, st, st, st, st, d, d, st, st, st, swish, whoooooooooo…

The small noises kept overtaking Gohan, but he still didn't care. Belva was taking him to the exact place that he needed to be.

__

I'm coming Videl.

-

A/N: Heh, another chapter.

Beaner


	16. The Lab

Believe…

Beaner-Bop

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A/N: Hey ya all!

-

Disclaimer: Stupid thing kicks. Owee…

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Chapter Fifteen: The Lab

-

The horse stopped.

Belva stopped.

And started neighing.

Gohan shook his head and climbed off, looking around. He couldn't figure this out. Belva brought him to a blank clearing…This CAN'T be the final place Videl was…it can't be. He didn't want to question the horse though - he wasn't sure HOW.

He began looking around.

-

Goku didn't care that blood was coming from his wrists. He didn't care that he could barely feel his hands. He didn't care. All he knew was that he had to get out of his bindings as quickly as possible.

And save Videl.

He heard and smelt two girls come into the room. One walking, the other being dragged - whimpering.

He was wondering if Gero had any idea what he was getting into. Shaking his head, he wondered what THEY had gotten into.

-

Gohan felt the bark on one of the trees, wondering if there was some sort of trap door to where Gero was. He knew it was a long shot but he didn't know what else to try.

That was when he smelt it.

So faint, he was amazed he could. He grabbed the leaf that the scent was on and sniffed it a little bit more.

He called Belva over.

-

"Can you hear her, Kakkarott? Can you hear Videl's whimpering? I'm sure you can. You are Saiya-jin after all…though maybe not, seeing as to how none of you can break away from those _weak _bindings." Goku winced and wished that was all the others had to do but apparently, their pride had been hurt to much.

The struggled harder against the chains, only to stop when they lost their breath. Goku shook his head.

"This isn't going to work, Gero." Goku told him calmly. He felt something warm and liquid splash onto his face. He sniffed it, wondering what it was, wincing at the smell of his own blood. _I must be bleeding more than I thought…_ He whispered. He heard a whimper, bringing him out of those thoughts. "Gohan will come here." Gero snorted at that, the noise Goku heard made him suspect Gero was that one shaking his head now.

"I highly doubt that, Kakkarott." Was all that Gero said to him in response. He began speaking to the girl that came into the room with Videl. "Go and get her shot ready." He stated calmly. Fear began to grow in Goku…Gohan wasn't going to like this…He wasn't going to like this at all…

-

They were riding again, and fast, of course.

Gohan was leading Belva to exactly where they needed to be, the horse under him, not questioning his orders.

-

"NO!" All the Saiya-jins winced at the loud noise. Sounds of struggling reached their ears and Goku winced. Feeling for the girl who was trying to get away. He heard each footstep as she raced to the door but then winced at the crack that sounded and then a dull thud. He heard Gero walking back over to him.

"I hate it when people do things like that to me. Don't they know its easier just to do as I say?" He asked Goku conversationally.

"Gohan will kill you." Goku said in the same voice. Gero laughed at him.

"I highly doubt that, Kakkarott. Is he even allowed to leave home under Saiya-jin land rules?" Goku winced. _Gero_, he decided, _knew a little bit to much about us_. Gero laughed at him again. "I'm right, aren't I? Your brat isn't even allowed to come and save the girl. If I remember correctly - your brat has a thing for rules, doesn't he? Loves to follow them and all that. I doubt he's going to leave Saiya-jin land at all." Gero laughed again and Goku had to do his best to suppress the grin that was trying to make itself known on his face. _You don't know much about Gohan, do you?_ He thought happily. He heard a body being lifted and felt guilt creep into him at forgetting Videl, who was still lying unconscious on the metal floor.

-

He looked around and then nodded. Gohan brought his hand up to his forehead. Belva was still running straight ahead. Gohan whispered something under his breath when suddenly…they both disappeared.

-

"Let's get this going, shall we? Girl - bring the shot here. No more dawdling. Don't want to leave any time for stupid heroics to break out, do we?" He heard a giggle and some movement of the equipment. The girl who dragged Videl in.

"Of course, Master. Here's the shot."

"Thank you." Gero told her. Goku swallowed. _Where are you Gohan?_ He thought to himself.

"Now this won't hurt a bit, Videl."

-

If Belva was surprised at the sudden change of area, she didn't show it. She did however stop quickly, worried that if she didn't, she'd run into the metal mansion that suddenly appeared before them.

Gohan patted her neck and jumped off, running towards the doors they were closest too… He shook his head when he saw no guards.

__

Is Gero trying to make this easy for me?

-

Goku sucked in a deep breath.

"You won't get away with this, Gero!" He yelled. Gero just laughed his usual laugh at him.

"Oh, but I think I will Kakkarott. I think I will." Goku winced at the sound of something dropping onto a metal table near Gero.

"All done. Now wasn't I right, Videl?" He asked the unconscious girl. "That didn't hurt a bit."

Goku lowered his head. _I'm sorry, Gohan._

-

A/N: 'Nother chapter done! Yay!

Beaner


	17. Crying Girl

Believe…

Beaner-Bop

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A/N: Damn…I have no writer's block this weekend, this is GREAT!

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Disclaimer: These things just make it longer to get to the story, have you all noticed that or is it just me?  
-

__

Marriage: A word that should be pronounced "mirage." -Herbert Spencer

Politics doesn't make strange bedfellows - marriage does. - Groucho Marx

Loving you is like loving a red-hot poker: Every caress brings on agony - Bertrand Russel

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Chapter Sixteen: Crying Girl

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Gohan was amazed. He was sure Gero had an interior designer. Though the walls were all solid steel, it still looked as though he just walked into some Victorian mansion. He swallowed nervously as he stepped onto the red carpet and kept looking around. He strained his ears, trying to see if he could hear Videl but after a while he stopped when he heard something else - was that crying?

He quickly walked up to the door where the crying was coming from and braced himself for a trap. Opening the door slowly, he looked around and stepped in slowly. Whoever was crying, obviously didn't notice that he came in because their crying pattern didn't change at his approach.

He came closer to the girl and touched her shoulder lightly.

She would've screamed but Gohan had his hands over her mouth before she could say anything.

In the back of his mind, something was telling him he knew this girl already, but he ignored it as he stared at her. When he judged from her heart rate that she was calm enough that she wouldn't scream immediately.

When he took his hands off her mouth and took in her appearance, he knew almost immediately who she was.

"Your Gero's wife!" He said. Much to his surprise, the woman behind him snorted angrily.

"Ha! Show's what you know!" She nastily. Gohan was even more sure that this was Gero's wife, this was the exact same attitude she used when he 'met' her as a boy. Wait a second…

"What do you mean?" She snorted again.

"I'm his sister now, you idiot." Gohan just stared at her for a moment and tried to figure this out in his head. Before he could finish she asked him a question, "Are you…that, that brat? Gohan?" She asked him, quietly. Gohan could tell it was only that quiet because she could scarcely believe what she was seeing. He backed up a little and glared but then nodded to her.

"Yes…" He was more shocked than he could ever remember before when her felt her arms wrap around his neck.

"Oh my K- Gohan! She backed away from him quickly and looked at, worried. "Videl, you have to save Videl!" Gohan blinked and nodded.

"But where do I go? I don't know what to do exactly!" The girl snorted and Gohan couldn't help but think that she was silently happy that she got to be in control and he didn't.

"Come along then, boy, it's time to get moving…" and she led him from the room.

-

Videl felt strange. She felt sick and her head felt nasty - as though her brain was nothing but cotton balls and it was floating and crunching in her head. She whimpered at the feeling lightly, not liking it at all.

"How are you feeling, my dear?" A voice came through her mind somewhat fuzzily. She slowly opened her eyes and her heart began to beat faster, seeing the man in front of her…She didn't want this man to see her weak or whimpering because of her cotton head so she did her best to get to her feet but as she stood, it was as though she tripped on air and she saw the floor coming closer and closer to her face to say hello.

She felt strong arms go around her waist like steel and she was ever so happy to look up and see twinkling eyes of the man above her.

"Be careful, Videl, air can be very dangerous…" She wondered if he could read her mind, how did he know what she was thinking? Oh well. It didn't matter, all that mattered was that she thanked this man for helping her from falling.

She blushed prettily but even though somewhere in the recesses of her mind were telling her to stop, get away from this man, he was evil, she didn't listen to them… Just like she didn't listen to that silly hanging black haired man who's wrists were bleeding onto his face, who was telling her to be careful…

She backed away from Gero sadly and nodded to Goku, who immediately quieted, wondering what she was doing.

"Thank you for telling me to be careful, sir." She told him, "But this man here has already save me from the air and myself." His eyes widened but she didn't pay attention as she turned her attention back to Gero.

"I know this is highly inappropriate sir, but I feel as though I must do this…I pray you forgive me." She told him as she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly, all that this little girl could muster the courage to do.

Somewhere deeper in her mind a voice was breaking through her thoughts…

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Kiss a little harder, he won't mind…he's such a strong gentleman…give him something special…bring him closer to you, you love him, don't you? You smart girl, he's a good man to love… Videl started getting nervous. She couldn't seem to break from the kiss though she needed air and…his hands were beginning to inch towards things that they shouldn't. She tried to split away from him, but he wasn't letting her.

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Just listen to him child…he's your hero…he knows what's best for you - it's him…you couldn't say no to him…even if you wanted to. He's your master now, you lucky girl, your master…

Videl felt a tightening in her stomach but it didn't feel right, it felt almost mechanical, like it was ordered to her to feel it and she did.

She heard the black haired man still struggling, trying to tell her to stop it, though everyone in the room knew it was useless, even she did.

His hands were rough on her body and she couldn't help feeling sick from it, which she felt terrible for, shouldn't she be proud to let this man touch her? Shouldn't she be…?

After a few more minutes of major petting on his part and kissing, Videl couldn't take it anymore and passed out into his arms like a limp rag.

Goku stared at Gero venomously.

"You monster." He whispered.

All Gero did was smile and wave back, again dragging the girl, and out of the room.

-

Bean


	18. Fast Traitor

Believe…

Beaner-Bop

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A/N: I like not having writer's block.

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Disclaimer: Do I need these anymore? I mean, come on…I how often do I actually give one of these…?

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Chapter Seventeen: Fast Traitor

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Hero: A man who is afraid to Run away. -English Proverb

An idea isn't responsible for the people who believe in it. -Don Marquis

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Gohan stared at the woman who was walking in front of him and couldn't help but wonder, somewhat immaturely, what was her deal? He shook his head and just kept following her.

Suddenly, she stopped in front of him and through them both back into the hallway they just walked in from. Gohan couldn't help but look back at her confused. She just glared at him for a minute before looking away from him and shrugging meekly, not able to look at him for some reason.

"It's Gero." She told him. She stopped him from going and confronting the older man, "But from the looks of it we're…" She swallowed nervously and Gohan made sure she saw his glare.

"We're what?" He asked after a few moments of waiting.

"We're to late - Gohan stop!" Gohan was about to charge out of the hall but must to his own chagrin he went and turned to look at her - he made up for it though by glaring at her worried face.

"Yes?" She took a deep breath and then put a soft hand onto Gohan's arm.

"Gohan…I don't mean we're to late, to late. I just meant we're to late in the sense that Gero's already given her the shot." Gohan squinted at her, trying to hide how confused he was but not doing a good job of it.

"What does this shot _do _exactly?" He asked. Annette bit her lip painfully, not wanting to answer the question yet. She tried to find away around it and was happily surprised when Gohan was distracted by someone talking - more specifically, his father.

Without a backwards glance at Annette, who didn't know whether to feel thankful or not, he began to run towards the lab.

She shook her head as she watched him run into the lab, crossed her arms over her chest, and huffed.

"I can't believe that boy is the Fighter. You could trick him into falling into a desert by telling him its really Mt. Everest, honestly!" She grinned when she felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to see who it was. A smile broke across her face and the attitude that Videl was used to suddenly returned.

"Hello, Brother!"

-

Gohan's heart plummeted into his stomach as the lab door opened and shut quickly behind him. He mentally slapped himself and called himself an idiot - all the while hoping that he hadn't just stepped into a large trap.

Judging by the Saiya-jins that were currently hanging by their wrists, blood dripping and glaring, he just did.

The single female of the group was the first to say something.

"You realize what you just did, don't you?" She asked, seething silently, along with the others, the only one who didn't seem to be angry was his father. His father was doing something that Gohan had never seen him do in his entire life.

His father was looking ashamed.

"I'm sorry Gohan…" Goku told him silently. "I'm so sorry…" He ducked his head again and shook it, as though trying to shake the guilt off of him.

What brought his head back up was his son's snort. Gohan just stood there for a moment before sliding to the ground quietly.

"I can't believe this…" He whispered. All the Saiya-jins stayed quiet. "I can't believe it. I was going to come in here, and save you guys, and then what happens? Videl gets this shot that I have no idea what it does, and then I get thrown into here, presumably to starve to death or something and he knows that this metal is to strong for us to break…" Gohan sighed and buried his head in his hands sadly.

"I'm a failure…" He whispered.

-

"Where are we going, Honey?" Videl asked Gero, who just smiled down at her.

"We, my dear, are going to get married!" Videl smiled up at him but couldn't help but feel horrible as a part of her began to rebel against what he was saying. Why couldn't all of her agree that she wanted this? She did want this.

Right?

Gero left her for a moment on her own, leaving her to battle the emotions going on inside of her alone but soon he was back with Annette, who was grinning from ear to ear.

"I promise brother, I did everything just like you told me to! Yes, yes, and acted like I was different than what I'm supposed to be. I did! I did! I did really, really, good brother! I promise!" Gero nodded to her and touched her shoulder.

Videl smiled at the show of affection.

She kept smiling even as Gero swooped in for a kiss from the other girl but the 'right' part of her, the 'automatic' part began to have feelings of jealousy run through her swiftly. The wrong part of her could only come up with, 'eeeeeeeeeeew…' She shook her head as Gero and Annette split apart and came closer to her.

"Come Videl - we're going to have to leave the castle for the ceremony." He told her gallantly. Videl nodded. She turned when she felt a soft hand on her shoulder and smiled at Annette.

"I'm so happy to be getting a sister!" The girl said happily. Videl nodded in agreement and both began to jump up and down as though they were little girls. Gero quickly stopped them and began to lead them from the castle.

"A wedding awaits." He told them. He squeezed into the middle of them after a moment and hooked their arms with his, and like a small, hooked together fence, they left the castle…

-

A/N: Dammit, what is it with me and short chapters?

Bean


	19. Green Eyed Monster

Believe…

Beaner-Bop

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A/N: Damn…I have no writer's block this weekend, this is GREAT!

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Disclaimer: I'm American people - do you honestly think I own something completely created on the other side of the planet?  
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Love may be blind, but jealousy sees to much. - Anonymous

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Beauty is only sin deep. - H. H. Munro

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Chapter Eighteen: Green Eyed Monster

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It had to have been at least an hour since they all got trapped.

Gohan hadn't moved a muscle, and neither had any of the others, at least not until one of the male Saiya-jins spoke up.

"Hey, brat." Gohan looked up, his eyes red around the rims from crying. Some of the other Saiya-jins scoffed at this, thinking it weak, but it made Goku duck his head a little bit lower. "How'd you beat Gero last time?" He asked Gohan just shrugged and mumbled something. "I may be a Saiya-jin, brat, but that doesn't mean I heard that, speak up." Gohan looked at him and shrugged again.

"I don't really remember. All I know for sure is that I was mad for some reason." Goku's head suddenly popped back up, but none of the other's seemed to notice. All their attention was on Gohan… He couldn't remember anything except being mad? THIS boy could get MAD?

"Gohan. The serum stuff that Gero gave Videl. Do you know what it is?" Gohan shook his head. "it's some sort of mind softener or something - I don't know it just-" Gohan looked at him confused. He searched for a question in his mind that he figured was actually important.

"What does it do, dad?" Is what he settled on. His father shook his head at him sadly.

"It…stops her control. She has no control over herself…" He took a deep breath, "…Gero does." Goku wasn't sure if what happened next was what he wanted to happen or not.

As he watched Gohan begin to understand what happening, he began to get worried when he saw the look in Gohan's eyes.

He could feel Gohan powering up, and then, blacked out.

-

They were in a town with children. That was what Videl was very sure about. They were running around, laughing, having a good time. For some reason, Videl couldn't help but feel that she knew all of these children. They all seemed vaguely familiar. It wasn't until she heard two women screeching her name though that she stopped her stride by Gero and turned to look, something in her mind telling her too.

Her eyes widened at what she saw.

"Erasa!" She squealed, "Lime!" She looked back at Gero, grinning. He nodded to her and she ran towards them. Her 'wrong' side quiet, trying to figure out what was going on. How on earth could her best friends be here?

"Oh Videl!" Erasa said, jumping up and down, "you're going to get married." She smiled at Gero and Annette, not giving Videl a moment to even think about how Erasa already knew she was getting married. Lime nodded to her and smiled happily for her.

"I can't believe you were able to grab someone like him." She said, respect in her voice. Videl nodded happily, though she wasn't sure why.

"How has life been for you two?" Videl asked vaguely, not quite sure what she should asked. Neither of her friends grins wavered as they nodded to her and told her fine. She was about to say more when her groom grabbed her shoulder and began to drag her to a nearby chapel.

"Come, bride. It's time we married.

-

Where's Videl…

Need Videl.

Videl…Videl…

Gero dies…

I'll make him pay…

Die Gero…

Videl…where are you…

Videl…

Gero Dies.

Die. Die. Die.

-

Gohan was about to leave the castle but suddenly caught a whiff of Videl's scent. He ran towards it, nothing daring to try and stop him.

He was going outside the castle, but through a different door than what they came in. Gohan's eyes widened as he saw what he never noticed before.

A whole town.

His anger was going back down, and his confusion taking over.

Why did Gero have a village in his backyard?

Gohan sniffed the air again and his eyes widened.

These people didn't smell right…they all smelt…

He didn't get a chance to finish the thought as a girl with brownish-red hair came up to him, a braid going all the way down her back. She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

"Hello." She said him silently. "I haven't seen you hear before." Gohan could barely stop himself from making a face - her scent was so overpowering… "What's your name?" She asked silently. Gohan tried to come up with a suitable answer but she didn't give him time to answer. Another girl came up behind her, a short haired blond girl, and waved at him and winked.

"Hey cutie!" She said happily. "I'm Erasa!" The girl beside him nodded.

"And I'm Lime." Gohan smiled at both of them before it registered.

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Erasa and Lime…

Erasa and Lime?

ERASA AND LIME!

He looked at them and began pointing from on to the other.

"What's wrong cutie? Are you lost?" Both girls giggled behind their hands at Erasa's comment but Gohan was to panicked to think.

"Oh shit…" He whispered. He was about to sniff the air again, to search for Videl again, angrily berating himself for losing his focus so many times.

However it turned out that he didn't need to.

The little bundle he was looking for ran straight into his arms.

-

Bean


	20. Dead Memories

Believe…

Beaner-Bop

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A/N: Another end is near…

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Disclaimer: Not again…

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The man who was to old to learn, was probably always to old to learn. - Caryl Haskins

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Chapter Nineteen: Dead Memories

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Gohan looked at the girl in his arms in shock and then looked up at Gero who was just leaving the church, having not spotted them yet.

"Gohan…" She whimpered, "Get me out of here."

Gohan quickly obliged, leaving all the others behind, as he raced through the castle again. It wasn't long before he met up with his father and crew who had just awoken from his earlier 'temper tantrum'.

"Gohan, what is it?" Gohan shook his head at his father.

"We've got to go." He winced as he heard Gero yelling at everyone out there and was very happy that Gero didn't have senses like they did. "Now."

Goku looked at his arms and saw the precious cargo that was the reason they were really here in the first place. She seemed to be having trouble breathing and was tensing and un-tensing her muscles at a rapid pace. He looked at Gohan who just shook his head and began to lead them out. When out there, Gohan turned to his father quickly.

"Split them up. The only way out of here I know is Instant Transmission." Goku's eyes widened.

"That works?"

"Yeah, but hurry up dad…" He was beginning to look panicked. "We can't take care of what's in there on our own." Goku nodded and gave Gohan three members of his crew along with the horse and Videl.

Within moments, they were gone.

-

It was a week since they had ran.

Videl and Gohan were in the forest near his home and he captured her hands in his and held them softly.

"What was wrong with them?" Videl asked him, whispered to him. Gohan sighed, having not wanted to answer this question for a long time but knew that Videl deserved to know.

"Videl…everyone there… they were…Videl-" She watched him as he stumbled over his words. She bit her lip and waited. He still didn't answer her. She decided to help him a little bit.

"Gohan, was that really…really Erasa and Lime back there?" She asked him. She didn't know whether to feel good or bad when he nodded his head yes. Her body quickly spasmed and she blacked out for a moment. When she woke up again, a few moments later, she was being cradled in Gohan's arms. He kissed her forehead lightly and rocked her.

"Gohan, were they mind controlled? Like I was?" She asked him quietly. She felt him wince when she asked him that, he still seemed to think that he had let her down by not getting there in time to stop that shot that was still affecting her body to this day. She snuggled in closer, making him tighten his arms around her, making sure she couldn't leave.

"No…not exactly." She looked up at him, confused.

"What do you mean?" Gohan's deep breath warned her that something was coming that she really wasn't going to like. "Gohan?"

"Videl, they were machines." She squinted at him.

"But you said it was really them-"

"It was."

"-but then how are they actually machines?" Gohan sighed and held Videl closer to him as he thought how to answer her question.

"Videl…they're…they're dead." Videl looked up at him.

"No they aren't, they were up there with us. What is it Gohan? It can't be all three of the choices you gave me! It can't really be them, but dead, and machines at the same time!" Gohan sighed as Videl pushed away from him and began to pace, her mind going miles a minute.

"Yes it can be." Said a voice from behind them. Gohan looked up and was startled to see Vegeta. Videl just looked at him for a moment before turning her head away from him. "Look at me, brat. You need to understand how all of those can be true." She did as he told her. "I know no other way to tell it like this, but your friends are dead. Their bodies merely costumes for the machines." Videl's mouth dropped open and anger flared in her soul. She was about to charge into Vegeta but was stopped by Gohan.

"Come here Videl…Come here…" He looked up to see if Vegeta was still there and wasn't surprised to see that he wasn't. He silently thanked the prince for telling Videl what he couldn't…

Said girl was currently clinging to his shirt in silent agony at the words Vegeta just told her.

"That means my mama's dead for sure…" She whimpered into his shirt. Gohan stopped short and looked at the girl in his arms curiously. He was never sure what made Videl run out of the Church, though he wanted to broach the subject many times. He never seemed to know how to do it - he was sure he was getting it now though, this being the first time Videl brought up her mother.

"What do you mean Videl?" He asked silently. The girl slowly began her tale…

"He…he was going to have us get married, and I knew everyone there was dead Gohan, I knew! I just…I hoped it wasn't true. He-he had my friends there - and- and my mother. My mother was there Gohan, she was a machine for-for him!" She sobbed harder into his shirt and Gohan pat her on the back lightly, "She was going to marry us, she, she said that she needed to kill me so I could marry him, and it made sense to-to me. I-I don't know what, but it did. Before she had-had the chance t-t-to use the dagger though, I asked her about you, and the Saiya-Jins and she told me that Gero was right, Saiya-jins were trash." She looked up at him and shook her head, "She was so…gone when she said that…it was so wrong coming from her so I just…ran." Gohan rubbed her back lightly before picking her up.

"Let's go home Videl." and he kissed her on the forehead, taking her to his home.

-

A/N: Another story done! Sequel maybe coming, but only once my workload is heavily lightened…

Beaner


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